The summer before senior year, I took multivariable calculus through MIT’s OpenCourseWare so that I could further my research efforts. Now, I’m formally enrolled in multivariable calculus at my school. Wait. What? Why not just take another math course, perhaps at the local community college? Or why not just another class in a different subject altogether?

Well, I’m not enrolled in the traditional multivariable calculus course. My teacher, and I, with the consent of the administration, have agreed to a modified curriculum.

First, in lieu of traditional homework, I prepare presentations of applications of the calculus at hand. In total, there will be about twelve such presentations.

Second, in place of lab assignments, I develop a protocol for the school’s new atomic force microscope, which, as is, does not have post-processing software to extract meaningful data.

Still, you might say, I have not answered the questions that I put into your mouth. At the beginning of the year, I was questioning whether I should take multivariable, but when presented with this alternative, I took it without hesitation. I saw it (and still see it) as a way to advance, not just my own math background, but also that of my peers, and as the presentations will be saved, that of future classes. I envision the protocol, now taking the form of a computer program, as the beginning of a school-wide collaboration which will evolve and expand through time – I’m just planting the seed.