Page 117 - A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

NEEL SUNDARESAN, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF EBAY RESEARCH LABS, ON
INSPIRATION AND THE PATH TO SUCCESS IN MATH AND SCIENCE

Dr. Neel Sundaresan is the creator of the Inspire! program to help
students succeed in science, engineering, math, and technology.
Some Inspire! scholars—a group of freshmen from disadvantaged
backgrounds—recently filed their first patent, which provided a
critical intellectual property asset for mobile commerce for eBay. Dr.
Sundaresan’s own story provides insight into his path to success.

“I did not go to an elite school when I was growing up. In fact, my
school was below average—we didn’t have the proper teachers for
many subjects. But I focused on finding something good in
whatever teachers came my way, whether it was an excellent
memory or simply an easy smile. This kind of positive attitude
helped me appreciate my teachers and keep an open-minded
approach toward my classes.
“This same attitude also helped me later in my career. Today, I
always actively seek inspiration from the people I work with and for. Whenever I find my spirit
bending low, I discover it is because I have stopped looking for people’s positive attributes. This
means it is time for me to look within and make changes.
“I know this sounds clichéd, but my main inspiration has always been my mother. She was not
allowed to study beyond middle school because she would have had to leave her small town to
complete high school. She grew up during an exciting but dangerous time in India’s struggle for
independence. The doors that shut for my mother have made me determined to open doors for
others, to help them realize the enormous opportunities that can be so close to their grasp.
“One of my mother’s Golden Rules was that ‘writing is the foundation of learning.’ From grade
school through doctoral studies, I have found immense power in systematically understanding and
writing each step of what I really wanted to learn.
“When I was a graduate student, I used to see other students vigorously highlighting steps in
proofs or sentences in a passage of a book. I never understood this. Once you highlight, in some
sense, you have destroyed the original without any guarantee that you have placed it inside you,
where it can flower.
“My own experiences, then, echo the research findings you are learning about in this book.
Highlighting should be avoided because, at least in my experience, it provides only an illusion of
competence. Retrieval practice is far more powerful. Try to get the main ideas of each page you
are reading cemented in your mind before you turn the page.
“I generally liked to work on my more difficult subjects, like math, in the morning, when I was
fresh. I still practice this approach today. I have some of my best mental breakthroughs in the
bathroom and shower—it’s when I take my mind off the subject that the diffuse mode is able to
work its magic.”