Meet FYE Director Rachel Roe-Dale

Q. When did you join Skidmore and what do you enjoy about teaching?

I joined Skidmore in 2005 as the first applied mathematician to teach in the College’s Mathematics Department. In applied mathematics, you use math to solve or better understand a real-world problem. In my own studies, I’ve found it especially interesting within the context of biology and medicine.

Skidmore students often have interests in many areas, so I like teaching mathematical tools and then encouraging them to use those tools in the areas they’re most interested in.

Q. What is one of your favorite classes to teach?

I especially love teaching my first-year seminar, The Dynamics of Chaos. It’s rooted in math, but Scribner Seminars are interdisciplinary courses by design. We look at how thoughts and ideas around chaos theory come up in other contexts, and I think that’s really exciting. For example, we discuss the butterfly effect, which considers how the beat of a butterfly’s wings today affects the future – essentially how small or seemingly insignificant actions result in important changes in our lives. This concept is explored in a lot of stories and movies, and I like to consider this question both mathematically and more abstractly.

Q. What advice do you have for students?

Be open to new experiences and trying something that pushes you outside your comfort zone. Take a risk and, in doing so, try to be okay with failing sometimes. This is the first time in your life that you likely got to choose to be here – you could have done something else rather than attend college this year. With that freedom of choice comes responsibility and the stress of making the right decisions, but in the end, there’s often no right or wrong answer. This is your life, and you collect feedback by making choices and seeing what happens. The experiences you have will help you figure out what you like and what you want to do with your life.

Q. What’s a fun fact about yourself?

I’m a competitive swimmer and I swim often. It’s become less important to me to compete, but I still enjoy practicing with my friends, and then we have coffee and play games and cards. It’s something fun that I like to do in my free time.

Q. What does Creative Thought Matters mean to you?

At Skidmore, I continue to appreciate how we provide this fertile ground for the intersection of so many seemingly disparate areas and disciplines. We’re given the creative space to find common ground between our fields, and we’re encouraged to explore it. Creative thought is resourceful, and it matters because we’re bringing ideas together.