Alina Zhu ’23 came to Oberlin with plans to study music composition and math. The music part was for love: She played and composed for piano. The math was more practical: It seemed like good preparation for a career in finance. But in fall 2021, she took a math course that changed her entire perspective on the field. The class was Math 301: Foundations of Analysis, with Professor Marx. Every math major is required to take it, and it marked an inflection point in the way Zhu experienced math. Instead of what she had been used to—calculations—the focus became proving things: constructing an argument step by step, making it elegant and airtight. At the link in bio, read our profile on Zhu to learn more about the course that changed everything. Photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones ‘97 • • • • • • • • • #Oberlin #OberlinCollege #OberlinOhio #Music #MusicComposition #Math #Mathematics #Undergraduate #Piano