Creativity, Math, and Dressing Like a Soccer Mom: an Interview with Rebekah Adams
Our social media manager Rebekah Adams is the brain behind this week of insightful interviews with the Penultimate Peanut staff. We thought we'd turn the tables on her and ask her a few questions instead to bring her into the spotlight.
Q: Have you lived in Hampton Roads your entire life?
A: Practically, I moved here when I was three years old. Hampton Roads is all I've ever known.
Q: You seem like you are fascinated and curious about the world, more so than most people. What makes you that way?
A: I’ve always liked a lot of different things. My dad and his father loved trying new things. They gave me my strong drive to explore and that leads me to research, which helps me find new things that I become passionate about. I have a wide variety of friends who encourage me to set new goals and try new things.
Q: Since we know you are a big fan of the television show Parks and Recreation, what character do you see yourself as?
A: Leslie Knope, one hundred and twenty-five percent, because I’m very driven - a steam roller. Like her I don’t let anything get in my way and I care deeply about little things, even minor moral laws. I aspire to accomplish as much as she does.
Q: If you could go back in time and live in another era, what would it be?
A: The Nineteen Eighties make me so happy. The music was great and it was a time of prosperity. There were so many musicians I would like to have seen in person. I love all the cheesiness - the movies, the clothes. I would so dress like an eighties soccer mom everyday, if I could.
Q: What is your reading recommendation?
A: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. I don’t read as often as I could, and this book was something I had to read for a class. I went from absolutely hating it to absolutely loving it in the space of three hours. I’ve never had a book affect me like that before.
Q: Your are currently a senior at Regent University majoring in Mathematics. What is your favorite part of studying math?
A: Real Analysis, that is the subject I love most, and the name of my favorite course. It is the most difficult course I've taken, and requires thinking abstractly and creatively to find the answers. It proves in depth the concepts that are basic to most math.
Q: Art and mathematics seem like an odd mix. Since you are the Social Media Manager for an art project do you see a connection between the two?
A: I think the connection between math and art for me is part my approach and part my perspective. I enjoy understanding how things work, and when I’m solving a math problem, I am constantly thinking about how all the little pieces fit together. That’s the same way I approach an artistic project, say a social media campaign. I am anticipating how all the pieces of the project will work together. Also, I see the inherent beauty in art, and that’s the same way I feel about math.
