ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — In celebration of Black History Month, a local group is taking time to recognize Black mathematicians that have become role models for members of the Orlando Math Circle (OMC). 

Isabella Delbakhsh, an 11th grader at Lake Highland Preparatory, is a mentor at OMC. While third-grader London Carrier is learning a lot from her mentor, Delbakhsh is also gaining valuable experience.

“Seeing that confidence in [London] has been the most rewarding beyond even the material she’s learned,” said Delbakhsh.

She aspires to work in the medical field as a doctor or in some other position.

At the Math Festival this month, "fun" was on full display and the pair completed math based activities together.

Carrier said she finds math in many things she does, like baking, which she hopes to pursue as a career in the future.

This extracurricular club is helping her to achieve the enthusiasm a future STEM career may require, “like more confident in math, like I can also discover new problems too and that I can be faster under pressure,” she said.

The PEW Research Center said Black and Hispanic professionals are underrepresented in STEM careers. The STEM Women Report also shows more women in the field, but many suffering ‘impostor syndrome,’ feeling like the “odd one out.” 

Delbakhsh hopes her generation, and Carrier’s, can become the young mathematicians who defy gender and ethnic expectations.

“You can study whatever you want and be whatever you want because expectations shouldn’t get in the way,” Carrier said.