Winnie Cooper makes math cool

Nobody likes to be pigeonholed into only one thing that defines them through the rest of their life. That’s why I love this video featuring actress Danica McKellar and how she has changed and evolved over time. The Wonder Years child star will forever be known as Winnie Cooper, the love interest of the earnest Kevin Arnold. Actors that find themselves in career-defining roles can have a difficult time shedding that character. And for the longest time, that’s what happened to Danica until she discovered her love of math. Yup, that’s right. Math!

In Danica’s story she talks about how she was afraid to try a math class in college even though she had done really well in math in the past. I can totally relate to this feeling as I often second guess myself or don’t believe I have the skills to achieve what I want. What really struck me is that she felt she wouldn’t do well because she “didn’t look the part.” The video hints subtly at this by showing footage of a male student as she is saying this — the gender that is most often associated with the math and sciences. Not only did Danica eventually overcome her insecurities, she is a full-fledged mathematician with a theorem named after her. Math is cool ladies!