Mathlete Leigh Marie

Beyond her immediate impression of being a passionate mathematician and peer instructor, senior Leigh Marie Braswell’s personality is broad and vivid. She loves doing research in combinatorics and dancing ballet as a Dance Company member. A self-described “strict proctor” in Lamont Hall, she also loves screaming factorials with students in ESSO MathCounts. A Head Tutor and MIST Academy teacher and curriculum developer, she is also an avid Alabama football fan. Yet all these factors intersect to form a leader in Exeter’s community who has impacted numerous individuals with her tenacity, dedication and kindness.“She’s the most efficient individual I’ve ever met. It took six hours for Leigh Marie to write her 333 paper last spring, and I’m convinced that her flawless ponytail minimizes wind resistance,” senior Stuart Faith said. “Her jokes are rare, but her sass is sophisticated. It's evident that this kid just thinks in a different plane.”Braswell overcame many obstacles to get to her current place in her mathematical career, which has led her to places such as the prestigious Research Science Institute (RSI) summer program at MIT. Born in Montgomery, she later moved to Cullman, Alabama, where she lives today. In the 6th grade, she began participating in competitive math for the first time. Living in a small town, Braswell began to seek out her own opportunities for mathematical enrichment.“I came across a program called MIST Academy, which was an hour away in Birmingham, and it looked really cool. It seemed really exciting, so I begged my mom to take me. I took classes there, with my biggest mentor, Mr. Crawford,” Braswell said.At MIST, Braswell worked hard to catch up to other students, many of whom had been participating in competitive math since early elementary school. “I found that I really enjoyed math, and that problem solving was fun for me, and that I was willing to do anything to get better at it,” Braswell said.Along the way, she attended many math programs away from home and lost her southern accent. “Coming to Exeter wasn’t my first experience away from home. I also attended a math camp called AwesomeMath at Cornell,” Braswell said. “I went up to present problems in Nike shorts, a tanktop, and a southern accent, and no one took me seriously, so I got rid of my accent,” she said.Her passion for math eventually led her to transfer to the Alabama School of the Arts in Birmingham, where she majored in math and science. In 9th and 10th grade she ran out of courses to take, causing her to apply to Exeter.Braswell’s success was largely self-driven – unlike many other students, her parents did not come from a mathematical background. “My parents have been very supportive even though they know almost nothing about math. When I come across a program that I know will make me better, they will try the hardest to get me there. Their support has led me here,” she said.Now, Braswell is a standout among Exeter’s math community as a Math Club captain and tournament director. She has been selected for advanced summer math programs such as Summer Program on Applied Rationality and Cognition (SPARC) at University of California at Berkeley and the Research Science Institute (RSI) at MIT, in addition to numerous distinctions on the AMC and Siemens national competitions.“She’s very able and hardworking,” math instructor and math club advisor Zuming Feng said. “I will always remember her calling me ‘sir’ with her wonderful southern accent.”“She’s very organized, and really knows how to take care of a group in math club. She’s energetic, passionate, and smart,” math club co-head Ravi Jagadeesan said.Braswell loves math club for its sense of community. “Math club is in some ways also a gossip club, we’re all incredibly close and know what’s going in each other’s lives,” she said. “First we’ll be talking about a serious math problem, and then the next moment we’ll be talking about somebody flirting with someone else.”Braswell is also an inspiring instructor as a head peer tutor, ESSO Mathcounts co-head, and a teacher and curriculum developer at MIST Academy in Alabama. In addition to pursuing competition math and mathematical research, she also writes problems and directs tournaments.“Leigh Marie is a natural as a tutor. Last year when she was new, she jumped right in and helped us out a lot in Peer Tutoring. Now as a head tutor, she's very versatile and knows how to make students feel comfortable asking for help,” Academic Support Counselor Pamela Parris said. “She is cheerful and welcoming yet isn't afraid to ask people to be quieter if necessary. She's a powerhouse of math and science knowledge that she's willing to share.”Braswell also enjoys helping a wide variety of people with their math skills. “In ESSO Mathcounts we try to get non-math people interested in math. To teach them factorials, I like to incorporate silly math jokes – to teach people factorials, I like to write the number and then the explanation point, and scream it,” Braswell said. “I try to encourage collaboration, because in real life that’s what you’re doing. I try to correct the stereotype that math people are inherently antisocial.”Senior Christine Lee, fellow math club and ESSO Mathcounts co-head, spoke to Braswell’s dedication. “Working for her is always a pleasure for me, because some coheads will blow off the program as a joke, but she really cares so much about teaching people math,” Lee said. “One improvement this year was preparing a solid syllabus.”Last summer, Braswell was selected to attend the highly prestigious RSI, with only a 2-3% acceptance rate nationwide. There, she spent a month conducting extensive research with a mentor, sometimes working on a problem for hours at a time.“You get to come up with theorems and prove them, and fail most of the time – most of the time it doesn’t work, but when it does, it’s beautiful,” Braswell said. “At the end of the program, you present work in a 10 minute talk after 4 weeks. It’s in a big room, you’re videotaped and everything.”Braswell was ultimately selected as one of the top five research talks from all 81 RSI students.She is also a Dance Company captain and played Mertha, the ice queen, in Giselle last year. “I will never forget how she got into the role of the evil swan queen in last year's Swan Lake performances,” Parris said. “You could see it in her face and every fiber of her body that the presumptuous little prince was going down – it was riveting and almost scary.”Still, despite her many achievements, Braswell is first and foremost a dedicated leader and teacher.“I remember once there were preps on the fire escape [in Lamont] and [senior] [Shannon] Diesch called me over – she’s nice and sweet, and I’m the disciplinarian and the bossy proctor, so I screamed ‘hey preps, get down’,” Braswell said.Faith pointed out a specific instance that demonstrated Braswell’s kindness. “Once, she called me after physics class – she was so distressed; it was the weekend before a test, and Leigh Marie accidentally took two workbooks home. She texted, called, and emailed this girl, with no response,” Faith said. “Finally, she hand-delivered the workbook to the girl’s dorm. Be it through small actions like these, her work in Mathcounts, Dance Company, or at Peer Tutoring, Leigh Marie is one of the most selfless people on this campus.”Despite her formidable work ethic, Braswell also knows how to have fun. “I try to make everything as light as humorous as possible; I try not to take everything so seriously. When I was writing my 333 I would skip around the library and chill in P.O. – this is the time of our lives, we need to lighten up and keep our head above water,” she said. “I’m also a huge college football fan – huge in Alabama, we love to watch college football. I’ll be writing a paper with one tab open and scream and cheer, I get really into it – that’s one part of Alabama that I don’t think people will ever take away from me.”She advises Exonians to work hard at what they love and not look back. “I’ve been so many places where I’m not the best and I’ve learned that to become better you have to work with people better than you. But you still have to keep your sense of self, to be humble but confident,” Braswell said. “I’ve met so many brilliant, amazing people but you learn what’s special about yourself and you keep moving forward. I’ve always believed that no matter what, if you work hard, you will find success.”“She has the seriousness and dedication to detail that makes her unique as a fellow Exonian,” Lee said. “She really brings out the best in people because she’s so committed, and it’s incredibly inspiring.”