Blog #1 - Pre-Project

    For my Hawken Project, I will be spending the next three weeks with my cousin's half-sister's husband, Ben, who works at a local company called Vertical Knowledge. Located in downtown Chagrin Falls, Vertical Knowledge collects and analyzes public data to help their clients solve problems. This subject is particularly interesting to me since I am planning on majoring in mathematics in college, with a specific interest in statistics or data science. 

    For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the field of mathematics. I think of every problem put in front of me as a puzzle, and I know that I have all the information and knowledge that I need to arrive at the solution. I simply have to figure out how to fit all of the pieces together in the correct way. 

    This past year, I enrolled in AP Statistics, which ended up being one of my favorite classes of high school. I loved how seemingly every problem we did had clear applicability to the real world, and it was what first made me think that I might want to pursue a career in a related field.

    I first heard about Vertical Knowledge through my brother, who did his Hawken Project with Ben four years ago. A lot has changed in the world in those four years, but what has stayed the same is that it is still a data-driven world. Mathematics, numbers, data -- it's all around us! So why not use this opportunity to learn about a profession in such an increasingly important field?

    Over the course of these three weeks, I hope to engage in an impactful project that will give me a better idea of my future career plans, as well as to see the kinds of skills required to work in this field. 

    I am very excited to begin!