Math major weighs grad options, job opportunity

Chase Sakitis’ childhood passion has led to — not one but three — post-graduation options.

The graduating Bloomsburg University mathematics major will have a choice between a master’s program in statistics at Binghamton University, a doctorate program in statistics at North Carolina State University, as well as a full-time job opportunity back home in Bethlehem.

“I chose mathematics, because it was a subject I excelled at throughout my school career,” Sakitis said. “Solving math equations or proving theories were like solving puzzles to me.”

Sakitis worked closely with a few professors in the Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences, including three who greatly influenced his decision to purpose further education in the field of mathematics. They even wrote his recommendation letters.

“This program’s curriculum has prepared me for what is needed to get into graduate programs, and the program also gave me the opportunity to work on a research project with one of the professors,” Sakitis said. “All of this allowed me the opportunity to go to graduate school for a Ph.D. in statistics.”

Through Sakitis’s close work with professors, he also realized that after finishing his education he’d like to return to college, but this time he would do the teaching.

“The professors here helped me realize that being a professor is a great career choice and that I would be a good fit for it,” Sakitis said. “I want to work with students at the college level, because it’s a critical time in a person’s life. I want to be able to help people at this age while teaching a subject I love.”