Students face plenty of questions during the college search process. Do you want a big school or a small one? Are you going to commute? What’s your major?
While some students feel they have to commit to a major before starting their college journey, that wasn’t the case for Theresa (Tea’) Amerise. With solid academic skills across the board and multiple interests, Amerise worked alongside her advisor when she arrived on campus to discover the major that was the right fit for her talents.
A tennis recruit from Holy Redeemer High School, Amerise knew Wilkes was a match for her. The Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, native excelled on the court, capturing the No.5 singles title at the 2021 MAC Individual Championship, earning MAC Freedom Rookie of the Year in 2022 and First Team All-Mac Freedom in 2022 and 2023. Though her love of the sport was certain, her potential major still hung in the balance.
Jeanne Rabel, who previously served Wilkes as an advising coordinator and is now the director of specialized programs, worked with Amerise as an undeclared student and continues to support her during her college journey. Their collective goal? To discover a major connection.
“Before I committed to a major, Jeanne helped me navigate through the doubt and the challenges I faced,” said Amerise.
Rabel noted that the tennis standout was a competitor in the classroom, too. “She excels in all of her areas of coursework, and this often makes it more challenging for students to make a decision about their major,” said Rabel. The duo talked about interests and goals, exploring options to help Amerise solve her major equation. “I believe it is essential for undeclared majors to develop good, thorough decision-making skills to build their self-awareness and self-trust,” said Rabel.
Based on Rabel’s guidance, Amerise pursued her interest in math while she continued to explore other academic areas. “I liked my math courses, but it was hard to visualize a career besides the teaching track,” Amerise admitted. She was pleasantly surprised as she took accounting and business courses that allowed her interest in math to equal career potential.
At Wilkes, student success is a team sport. In addition to the support she received from Rabel, Amerise has worked closely with Sofya Chepushtanova, associate professor and co-chair in the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science. Amerise considered an individualized study program to combine her interests in math and physics, but conversations with Chepushtanova helped her decide that a math major with a minor in statistics added up to the right choice.
As a requirement of the math major, Amerise presented her senior talk, “A Geometric View of Pythagorean Triples,” last fall and will deliver her final senior presentation by the end of the semester. With these capstone moments, the senior creates a bridge between college and career. “Tea’ demonstrated an ability to explore, communicate and discuss mathematical concepts at a professional level,” said Chepushtanova.
Amerise credits Rabel and Chepushtanova with helping her through the challenges of her college career and pushing her to achieve more than she expected. “Without the direction and support they provided, it is unlikely I would have been able to complete a bachelor of science degree in math and a statistics minor in four years after having been undeclared for two years, even though some of my classmates were beginning to refer to me as ‘the undeclared math major’ in the spring of my sophomore year,” said Amerise.
While graduation approaches, Amerise is thinking about her future after Wilkes, with graduate school as a possibility and the dream of working for Disney. Whatever she decides, her math major adds up to a wide-open future. “I can see Tea’ being able to do many things,” said Chepushtanova. “She can be a math instructor, a data analyst, an actuary — there are many career paths with a math degree.”