Patricia Klein

Where are you from?

 I grew up outside of Chicago, IL.

Please describe an experience (or 2) that helped you discover/cultivate your interest in the mathematical sciences.

This isn't so inspirational, but I think I liked math when I was younger because it was easier for me than some other things.  I've always been a slow reader, and I was embarrassed when we were asked to read out loud in school because I would stumble a lot more than other kids my age.  So when we were allowed to choose which subject to work on, I always chose math out of fear of the others where I might be asked to read aloud. Then when you do something a lot, of course you get better at it, so math stayed easier than the other subjects, which I declined to practice, for many years.  

Then there was a dark period at the end of high school and beginning of college when I decided that math was both boring and also too hard for me, and I mostly stayed away.  Eventually, I eased back into it to balance course loads because I remain a slow reader and needed at least one course without a heavy reading load. I remember quite well a few specific things faculty said to me that really made me feel like I belonged in the math department, like it was my natural resting point.  They seemed like people who knew what they were talking about, and so eventually I believed them and let myself prioritize the math. Then it was fun again and, as an adult, fun even when it was hard. I can't overstate how grateful I am to the faculty who put in the extra care and time to encourage me. I'm very happy doing math now, and it's a little scary for me to think how close I came to leaking right out of the math pipeline without even knowing that that's what was happening.

What is/are your most proud accomplishment(s) in regards to your career in the mathematical sciences?

 I definitely have a favorite theorem I've proved.  It was hard for me, and I'm still a little surprised it's true.  I spent about a year pretty actively looking for a counterexample in various ways.  It was keeping notes on properties that a counterexample would have to have so that I'd be able to construct a good one.  Eventually I could give an argument that you just can't have all of those properties, and then I was done. 

What is/are your most proud accomplishment(s) in regards to your personal life?

The things I'm most proud of in my personal like are personal, but I'll tell you one thing I'm proud of in my personal life that is not really very personal: I spent years feeling bad about not folding my t-shirts and trying to find ways to get myself to fold my t-shirts.  At some point I decided that it's just not a problem if my t-shirts go unfolded, and now I don't feel bad anymore. I'm a little more contented with my life this way. 

Please share some words of wisdom/inspiration.

Grad students are always very busy.  It's okay to say "no" to things.