TRUE WONDER WOMAN
Soon-to-be mom Elizabeth Rogers earns two ECU mathematics degrees in five semesters
STATISTICS
Name: Elizabeth Jerol Rogers
College: ECU Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences
Major: Mathematics with a concentration in statistics
Age: 30
Classification/Year: Graduate student
Hometown: Louisburg, N.C.
Hobbies/interests: Spending time with my husband and our three dogs. Soon we will be adding a baby girl to our family.
FAVORITES
Favorite hangout: Home
Favorite place on campus: Library or Starbucks
Favorite place to eat: Wasabi 88
Favorite class: Applied Statistical Analysis
Professor who influenced you the most: Dr. Chris Carolan
Favorite TV show: “Friends”
Favorite band/musician: Maroon 5
Favorite movie: “Dirty Dancing”
Favorite superhero: Wonder Woman
What is your superpower? Weather controller. I have the ability to control the mood and atmosphere of a situation to create the best possible outcomes and environment.
MOTIVATIONS
Dream job: Mom and statistician
Role model: My mother! She keeps going no matter what obstacles she faces. When I was a teenager my mother was severely ill with late stage breast cancer and still pushing herself to go to work to provide for my brother and I. I didn’t understand how she did it then and I still cannot fathom how she did it now that I am an adult.
What advice do you have for other students? Keep going! I know it has been difficult with all the obstacles that COVID has thrown our way, but don’t give up. You can do this!
East Carolina University mathematics graduate student Elizabeth Jerol Rogers is both a first-generation and non-traditional student.
Originally from Louisburg, Rogers graduated from high school in 2009. She’s had a wide range of jobs, including insurance agent, account manager, and server at the Boiler Room and the Chef & the Farmer restaurants in Kinston.
After completing an associate degree at Durham Technical College in 2018, Rogers moved to Greenville with her husband. In fall 2019, she enrolled at ECU.
This December, just five semesters after beginning her academic work at ECU, Rogers will be the first student to complete the accelerated Master of Arts degree in mathematics. This new degree option allows students to double count four classes toward their undergraduate and graduate degrees — earning two degrees in the process.
According to one of her professors, Rogers is an excellent student. She completed work for her Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics, summa cum laude, in fall 2020, and now is completing her Master of Arts degree in mathematics, with a concentration in statistics, with a 4.0 GPA.
“Her focus and determination on returning to school have been extraordinary,” said Dr. Heather Ries, associate professor of mathematics. “She has taken full advantage of the opportunities available at ECU, including the new accelerated MA in mathematics.”
Based on her advanced academic performance, Rogers was awarded both the Ji and Li Family Foundation Scholarship and the Eron-Vittitow Scholarship from the math department.
Rogers has a few ideas in mind for her future upon graduation, including the possibility of continuing her education, but her next goal and dream job is being a mother. Rogers and her husband will soon welcome a baby to their family of three dogs.
“For now, my plan is to give birth to our beautiful baby girl,” she said. “We are planning to move to the Research Triangle Park area, and I would love to get a job as a research statistician. I would also like to teach classes at a local community college, so I can help students who may be discouraged when it comes to learning math.”
It was her high school teachers that influenced Rogers to pursue math.
“I had some great teachers who instilled a love of mathematics in me,” she said. “A great math teacher in your early years truly makes all the difference.”
Rogers is a true wonder woman and the first student to complete the accelerated Master of Arts degree in mathematics, earning two degrees in five semesters. (Photo by Cliff Hollis)