Britt Kaufmann, a 1992 Bethany alum, is a poet and math tutor who lives in Burnsville, NC. At the age of 47, she took her first calculus course. As a student, writer, tutor, and woman going through midlife, she developed the prose of her poem, “Midlife Calculus,” published in the Scientific American February 2024 issue. (Click here to read the poem) Britt says, “I knew in advance the poem was to be published by the magazine, but I didn’t know the exact date. It was pretty special to have it published a few days before my 50th birthday.”
Britt said, “I always wanted to take calculus. It was actually on my bucket list.” When she was a high school student at Bethany, she remembered a friend, Gretchen Nyce (‘89), who traveled up the road to Goshen College and took calculus classes. Unfortunately, a conflict with classes didn’t allow her to take calculus in high school. At college, she thought she would have the opportunity to take the class, but again, with her English major, classes conflicted with the schedule. So, calculus was left on a list of hopeful goals.
Britt is a writer (poetry, plays, essays) and a former high school English teacher. In 2019, she became a math tutor at the local high school. While working with the math department teachers during the pandemic, she heard a calculus class was lacking in student numbers, so she asked if she could be added to the class through Google Classroom. Like a high school student, she completed homework assignments, took quizzes and tests, and prepared for the final exam. She finally completed her goal of taking calculus.
Britt has an analytical mind. She remembers her high school English teacher, Devon Schrock, sending students into the hall to decipher poems while at Bethany. In particular, she remembers discovering the symbolism of a drafting compass in John Donne’s poem A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. She said, “It was an a-ha moment, like finding an Easter egg.” This experience established Britt’s joy of poetry.
Britt is an in-class tutor. She sits at student desks, modeling how to take notes and answering questions for those students sitting close to her. Britt’s own doodles in her notes inspired her. She said, “When reviewing these notes, I started seeing intersections between the math and my own experiences. Later, these doodles developed into poems.”
Britt reflected on writing the poems, saying, “As a Mennonite, there is something about making a homemade quilt that has the practicality of keeping a person warm.” She continued, “In the same way, it is rewarding to write a poem that also helps someone understand a math concept.”
In the fall of 2024, her publisher, Press 53, will publish her first full-length collection of poetry, also called, Midlife Calculus. You can find out more about Britt’s poems and published work at her website: www.brittkaufmann.com.