Senior of the Year: Daria Ivanova

By ERIN HA N ‘26

To senior Daria Ivanova, the path ahead of her seemed straighter before she passed through her four years at Exeter. After sharing much about all that the past four years have brought for her, Ivanova summarized, “I really will miss this place such a ton, and I hope it keeps doing what it’s doing because it’s been really wonderful for me. It’s transformed me a huge deal,” then, adding with a laugh, “and confused me about my future!”

It is without a doubt that Ivanova’s passion towards mathematics has been a constant in her life since long before her arrival at the Academy, and is something that has marked a strong presence in her role within the Exeter community. However, if someone were to glance at Ivanova, already knowing her name from the sign-off at the end of Math Club emails and rosters of math competitions, and glimpse at her coheadships of Math and Geometry Club, the levels of her registered math and science courses, and even her (well worn) hand-knit scarf that resembles a hyperbolic curve, they may profile her as “just a ___ person,” be it “math” or “STEM.” They would overlook much of everything else that makes up Ivanova.

A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Ivanova is a boarder in Gould House and co-heads the Math and Geometry Clubs on campus. She has been an avid runner for the varsity cross country and track teams, and was awarded the title of Most Valuable Member by the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) this year. She serves as a head tutor in the STEM learning center, and received a classical diploma for study in Greek and Latin. Last year, Ivanova was also a member of MIT’s PRIMES program off campus, where she was able to pursue her interest in mathematical research. 

Many of Ivanova’s passions have stemmed from aspects of her childhood spent in St. Petersburg. She spent her entire childhood in her hometown, apart from a one-year stay in Belmont, MA. “I’m from St. Petersburg in Russia, and grew up in the city. Location-wise, I also lived for one year in the Stated, in my third grade. That was because my brother was enrolling at Exeter at that time as a ninth grader, and my mom and I went there for a little while just to support him because he had no one in the Stated,” said Ivanova. “I think that’s when I learned English properly, when I was able to apply it, and actually was able to speak English quite fluently after that year.” 

Her rigorous middle school environment catapulted both Ivanova’s interests in mathematics and classical languages. She recalled, “In middle school, there was this really, really strong—probably the strongest— math school in Russia that was on my street, which both of my older brothers had gone to. It was known for being extremely strict, and to really hyper-focus on math. I got in, and I was like, ‘Yay!’ but then I thought, ‘I don’t want to spend all my time being just a sad STEM person and doing math!’” 

So Ivanova decided to take a different path: “I actually ended up at this other really cool school that had classical languages and really cool humanities offerings.” 

Even within this relatively humanities-focused environment, Ivanova found a place in the math team. “One super special core memory is definitely all the time I spent with my math club and math team from that language school that I went to,” she shared. “Russia has this tradition, called ‘math battles,’ which usually span a week, and it’s when you get a bunch of problems in the morning, solve them throughout the day, and present them to each other at this ‘battle,’ which is three hours of defending your own solutions, presenting things, and finding flaws in your opponent’s solutions.” 

Outside of classes, these moments were, in a sense, liberating for Ivanova, detaching herself from the strict system that her school enforced. She described this environment as a “very old system. For instance, for all my history classes I would essentially just have to memorize dates. The teacher would just give a lecture, I would take notes rapidly and then I would have to remember everything I’d written,” she added, “In retrospect, how history is taught here at Exeter just works so much better with my mind, compared to that. Here, you actually think and you discuss and you try to apply your own brain to things—and that’s the core of it.”

Having heard from her brother, a member of the class of 2018, about his experience at the Academy, Ivanova felt reasonably familiar with Exeter when she arrived. Nevertheless, in the stretch of the pandemic, Zoom classes and quarantine regulations, adjustment was a feat in itself. “It was hard, prep year with Covid, because you’re coming for this experience where you live on campus and really make use of all the available resources—and you’re faced with something else,” Ivanova recalled. “I remember feeling fairly happy prep fall, but I also remember being very isolated and not realizing that was an issue. I was just with my mom while attending the Zoom classes, and as a result, I was still extremely attached to home and to my Russian friends and even my Russian teachers. I was still giving lectures in my old school, and was still helping out with the math club there, over Discord because of Covid.”

“Prep year here was really strange,” she summarized.

Upon her arrival, Ivanova also faced several unforeseen differences from her home, given that she was not only adjusting to the Exeter community, but also simply the general fabric of the U.S. “I think a lot of people can say this because obviously a lot of Exeter students are international or come from very different communities, but it’s been really eye opening to see how the opinions of people or the social norms at home differ from social norms here,” said Ivanova.

She recalled an example of one of the starkest cultural shocks: “There’s one silly example of a social norm that, just in the Stated, is so prevalent. It’s that if you see someone, if you meet a stranger at a store where you’re just buying something, people will always smile at you. And that was the first thing I noticed. I was like, ‘I’m scared and everyone’s smiling at me for no reason!’”

“But it is just really funny little things like that, as well as really big systemic ideas,” Ivanova continued. “Exeter is definitely much more progressive than whatever culture I come from in Russia, even though I would say that a lot of my friend group in Russia is still probably more progressive than your typical Russian. It’s really funny to realize how many systemic issues I didn’t realize existed until I came to Exeter, when the new norm became something else.”

“It has just taught me that I need to be super cognizant of my own biases and whatever prejudices I may still have, because it’s really easy to adopt an opinion if you’ve grown up that way or if everyone around you thinks the same way,” she reflected.

On the flip side however, Ivanova’s Russisan childhood helped her adjust to the heavy workload at Exeter. “I think especially my middle school has really taught me good study skills, just committing to your work,” she said. “And I also think it gave me an initial interest in various things. My middle school was also hyper-focused among the middle schools in my city on note-taking. We didn’t have any textbooks, so our classes were really lecture based—super anti-Harkness—but we would take notes all the time. From that, I definitely inherited the skill, and so now when I’m reading something while I’m trying to digest information, I will take notes all the time, whether in class or if I’m reading something for myself.”

She recalled again the introduction to a new chapter that her first steps onto the Exeter campus marked for her. “It was pretty thrilling. Just feeling that little bit of extra freedom and then also coming to Exeter and living on my own—it was just so great. That’s been a big theme, but I think I’ve extended that freedom to intellectual or things that aren’t related to locations, and exploration in other ways that I really care about. Just looking at the world from different perspectives, reading different opinions, gaining a sort of intellectual freedom that lets me see my own biases by looking at other people, has been a really big idea for me.”

These values, of free curiosity and learning for the sake of the joy it brings, have marked Ivanova as a crucial presence, be it at the Harkness table, outside the classroom in conversations with teachers and friends, or on the track.

Instructor in English Todd L. Hearon, who taught Ivanova in his Samuel Beckett senior elective, described her presence in the classroom: “She’s animated by goodness and an empathetic awareness of her cohorts at the table. She’s a leader among leaders. She’s genuinely interested in conversation, not monologue. These are all qualities that should distinguish all Exonians, but Daria sets the high bar. Hers is a perfect storm of the scientific intelligence and the artistic imagination.”

“She is knowledgeable, earnest and generous,” echoed Instructor in Physics James DiCarlo. “Daria has a very visual and intuitive way of thinking about math. She makes inferences and tests them. Daria is always looking to put ideas into context, and she draws connections and is always ready with an ‘If that’s true then what about . . .?’ question.” 

DiCarlo recalled a specific instance where Ivanova’s intuitive approach played out within the classroom. “Daria was part of a special-topics course in Relativity and Black Holes this winter,” he explained. “As were working through the details of interactions and collisions between relativistic particles, Daria hit upon a tabular way of keeping track of the various important quantities.  It was so intuitive and easy to use that more than half of the class adopted her technique as their standard approach to analyzing these types of situations, even for hand-in work. They came to be called ‘Daria Tables.’”

“In thinking about it,” he added, “I realized that in her own way, she had spontaneously recreated the important concept of a “4-vector,” which is an idea that helps unify mass and energy in relativity—look out Einstein!”

DiCarlo mentioned another moment that demonstrated both Ivanova’s thoughtful individual approach, and spirit of collaboration. “In our quantum class just a few days ago, I partnered Daria with Shiqiao Zhang and let them fill a white board full of ideas on how to analyze and visualize the quantum mechanical idea of an eigenvector and its relevance to what it means to make a measurement. Daria and Shiqiao have very different approaches to math—both deep and intuitive—but it was really fun to watch Daria’s geometrical insights match wits with Shiqiao’s iron-clad statement—proof logic. It was somewhat of an oil & water situation, but I’d like to think that these two learned something from each other, even if they didn’t quite understand why the other’s brain worked the way it did.”

Zhang, a classmate as well as fellow member of the math club commented on seeing Ivanova not only as a peer in his class, but a dynamic co-head on the math team. “Daria is incredibly skilled at taking leadership and fostering solidarity within a team. Her unfeigned devotion and sense of responsibility naturally spread to others, and she always goes out of her way to make everyone feel that they are an integral part of the mission.”

Senior Ishaan Vohra, who was both a classmate as well as a peer at the RIKEN research program, a global initiative trip offered by the Academy, described Ivanova’s voice at the table, as well as her unabashedly curious spirit. “Sitting around the Harkness table, Daria volunteered questions and answers fearlessly, and seemed completely unaffected by the cloud of ‘I-don’t-want-to-say-anything-because-I-don’t-want-to-sound-silly’ that often afflicted the rest of the class,” Vohra said. 

“Her presence was kind of a breath of fresh air—it was a reminder to me that in class, my fundamental goal was to learn, and that no sense of ego and embarrassment should ever get in the way of that,” he continued. “There are really a whole host of things I could list here, but if I had to choose one [aspect], I really admire Daria’s passion for trying new things. Whether she’s climbing trees and flagpoles to see the world from a new vantage point, exploring Tokyo’s food and culture during our physics trip to Japan, or participating in bizarre math-modeling competitions (and dragging me into them) just for the adventure, Daria’s attitude of making the most of fun opportunities has really inspired me to try to do the same.”

Zhang echoed, “[If I could describe Daria in one word, I would choose] ‘freedom.’  Daria’s optimistic yet down-to-earth approach to life gives her the freedom to explore and impact the intricate world in all its glory.”

Cross country and track coach Brandon Newbould spoke on this aspect of organized freedom that Ivanova has displayed as a member of the running teams: “I appreciate Daria’s peculiarities, because she is put together so differently than I am. She displays tremendous tenacity in competition, enough to carry her through powerful discomfort.”

He continued, “I appreciate that Daria’s playful nature belies her Russian seriousness, just as she balances her professed admiration of ‘concrete things’ with forays into dance, figure skating, and at least this year, stage acting.”

Newbould also recalled a specific moment when Ivanova displayed an admirable quality of calmness. “I will carry a number of memories of Daria’s time here when she moves on, because for such a high-performing athlete Daria somehow appears to be utterly removed from her surroundings at big competitive events,” he described. “I have a memory of Daria on the grass at Loomis Chaffee, at Interschols, before she led her team with Tenley Nelson to an upset victory, calmly immersed in homework with her laptop open in front of her.  This was within five minutes of warming up for the event.  She was completely unruffled, while everyone else on her team openly grappled with their nerves. And then she went on to a great race with a podium finish.”

Senior and fellow founder of Geometry Club Nat Welling spoke on the vastness of Ivanova’s palette of passions. “I feel like every time I talk to Daria, I learn something new about her that I just would not have expected at all. She’s done so many crazy things. I found out just the other day that her hobby when she was in elementary school was casually climbing to the roofs of really tall buildings.” 

“I think she’ll really bring anything and everything to the world after Exeter,” continued Welling. “I think, as an intellect, she’ll do something crazy and amazing. I don’t even know in what field, because she could be a physicist, she could be a mathematician, she could be an Olympic athlete, but I think she’s just so uplifting and kind to everyone around her and she’ll definitely make an impact.”

Zhang echoed, “It is evident from my conversations with Daria that she cares deeply about the world. As a continuation to her various endeavors that have benefited the Exeter community, I am sure that Daria will make great contributions to the world with her knowledge and passion.”

“Daria is the twin-embodiment of curiosity and articulateness,” detailed Hearon. “She speaks her broad-ranging mind eloquently, and the broad range of her interests is anchored in and nourished from the minutiae. She has a keen eye for the details, and she builds, and articulates, her vision and understanding of the bigger picture based on the microscopic.”

Regardless of where she is found on campus — whether she is indulging in her passions in the classroom, at her leisure, on the track, or even dashing between classes, seconds away from the clock that might mark her late — Ivanova has left her lasting mark at Exeter, one that pushes for boundless creativity, curiosity, and learning for the sake of learning. When asked about a message that he would deliver to Ivanova, Zhang quoted another native of St. Petersburg — the mathematician George Cantor, who is known as the founder of set theory: “The essence of mathematics lies in its freedom.” Zhang then affirmed, “Daria has the passion and capability to pursue this freedom.”