her on her campus tours. She’d let him schedule all her campus visits for her, deciding which schools were worthy of her consideration. But it had quickly become apparent he wasn’t there to support her. As he dragged her to a series of private meet and greets he’d set up with university faculty and administrators who played no part in the admissions process, Mia realized her father was using her college application process as an opportunity to network and show her off like a fashion accessory.
She felt a creeping sense of déjà vu as her father hijacked yet another question from the New York writer to tell a longwinded story about his work as a quant. When he finally wound down, the interviewer turned to Mia and asked what had drawn her to the field of knot theory. She started to explain her affinity for puzzles and spatial reasoning, but before she got very far, her father interrupted with an anecdote about the wire and string puzzles he’d given her to play with as a child, and how he’d introduced her to the Seven Bridges of Königsberg problem, which had been her first taste of topology.
The irony of him crowing about his influence over her field of study was rich, considering how much he’d disapproved of it.
By the time Mia had started thinking about her graduate studies and formulated her twenty-year career plan, she’d grown more of a backbone and ceased to care so much about pleasing her father. There were a lot of reasons why she’d been drawn to pure math instead of applied math like her father wanted, and why she’d chosen to do it at UCLA. But a big factor had been a desire to break out of his shadow. To prove she could make it on her own without his influence and connections aiding her. To chart her own path instead of blindly adhering to the one he’d laid out for her.
Mia had followed her heart once before, and it had been the right choice. Why was she letting him lead her around like a show pony again? She hated it when he pushed her into the spotlight to feed his own ego. She’d always detested being the center of attention. So what was she doing all this for? Was it even worth it?
Maybe he was right, and this was the way to get the tenure-track job she’d always dreamed of in a top ten department. Maybe it would even help her get the Fields Medal.
But how much did she actually care about those things? Did she even still want them that badly? Enough to build her life around getting them?
“So Mia,” the interviewer said when her father had finished his monologue, “what’s next for you?”
Her father started to answer for her, but Mia cut him off. “I don’t know yet,” she said. “I’ve actually been rethinking what’s important to me and what I want from my career.”
Her perspective had changed dramatically over the last few months. She’d learned a lot about herself in her short time at Bowman—and realized she wasn’t the person she’d thought she was. She was more adaptable than she’d expected, less concerned with status and appearances than she used to be, and far better with people than she’d given herself credit for.
“How so?” the interviewer asked as Mia’s father frowned beside her.
“Well,” Mia said, “I used to think I was mainly interested in research, but I’ve recently begun to realize how much I enjoy teaching.”
Maybe even more than she liked research. In fact, she might not even like research all that much. She still enjoyed thinking about problems as an intellectual exercise, but she didn’t love the constant pressure to perform and publish.
The interviewer smiled, leaning forward a little in her chair. “Teaching’s certainly a noble profession.”
Her father’s frown had turned into a glower, but Mia ignored him as she continued. “Right now I’m teaching at a small, regional university in rural Texas, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work one-on-one with the undergraduates there. There’s something that appeals to me about teaching students fresh out of high school who haven’t yet figured out their path in life. Helping them construct knowledge and understanding. Opening their eyes to the possibilities available to them, whether their futures lie in mathematics or other fields entirely.”
“Rural Texas?” The interviewer chuckled. “That’s got to be a big change for you after growing up here in New York.”