After graduating from HMC in 2000 with a degree in math, Carrie Crum served in the Air Force for four years. She became a scientific analyst and worked on concept development for future space technologies. After leaving the military, she spent a few years traveling to Europe, Guatemala and South America; became a yoga instructor; and volunteered at a homeless shelter, at Camp Ronald McDonald for children with cancer, at a cancer support and resource center, and at Planned Parenthood.

“I decided during this time that maternal and child health was the right career field for me, because I wanted to have a positive impact on people,” she said. Carrie had one more travel adventure: spending six months walking from Georgia to Maine on a solo through-hike of the Appalachian Trail. She then attended The George Washington University, where she obtained a master’s in Public Health.

Currently, Carrie is working as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF), which is a two-year internship program with the federal government. “I am now working at the National Institutes of Health, where I am fortunate to have the opportunity to do a series of three-month rotations in a variety of career fields, so that I can find the right fit for me at NIH.”

Carrie said that HMC gave her the confidence that she could accomplish anything. She feels that HMC led to her personal success “in countless ways that I cannot even measure. I think those five years that I spent as an undergraduate were a very formative time in my life, and I don’t think I would be the same person if not for those experiences.”

When asked what things about HMC prepared Carrie for her career, she pointed out that the most important aspect of her Mudd education was that she learned how to learn.

“Studying math helped me cultivate an ability to critically think about problems and creatively solve them. I think Mudd provided me with an environment where I was surrounded by people who had a love of learning all things.”

Mudd also instilled in Carrie an obligation to think about the effects of her work. “The culture and education at HMC always focused on the importance of thinking about the potential positive and negative impact of the science you are doing and the ethical obligation that comes with being a scientist.”

Carrie also noted that, “compared to Mudd, everything else seems easier.”

Even the Appalachian Trail, Carrie?