SweeterThanPi: Making Maths Pretty

It’s GCSE season, and with the dreaded maths exam coming up so soon we wanted to chat to the site that combines equations, pop culture and pastel colours to make maths pretty!

SweeterThanPi has captured our hearts and brains, and we spoke to the website’s founder, Dana, to find out a little more about how #prettymaths is becoming popular.

“We all like things that look pretty, that’s why we follow all the amazing bloggers and like their beautifully designed websites and Instagram feeds. So I thought, if we were to incorporate this prettyness in to maths, would people be more interested in the subject? And I’ve seen that yes, most are when it’s aesthetically pleasing and they like what it looks like!” Explains Dana.

However for Dana, it’s more than just pastel colours and nice designs “I studied maths at uni, I’d be the only black girl in my class and I’d be like where are all the ladies!? Where is everyone?” She continues; ” I want to encourage girls that you can learn whatever you want, do what ever you want and be whatever you want.”

Many of us don’t know what we want to do when we are older, but SweeterThanPi wants to equip its followers with the knowledge they need to keep all options open; “We just want to make sure they don’t disqualify themselves before even having made decisions about their future.”

“I remember being in college, my friends were studying psychology and they needed help with statistics. Maths is involved in almost every single subject!” Adds Dana.

She has always been a bit of a maths whizz and, alongside running SweeterThanPi, Dana is also a tutor, something she discovered her love for when she was just 15; “I didn’t go to a great school, but maths was my safe place. It was the subject I really enjoyed learning, studying and pushing myself in.

“With a class of 30, the teachers weren’t able to push you too much. But I really enjoyed teaching myself and teaching my friends. That’s when I started tutoring. I did my A-Level maths a year early and I was the first ever to get an A* in maths in my school! I think I’ve always just had a passion for maths.”

Now, we don’t know about you but some of us here at Girl Got Faith admit to having used the excuse – ‘I’m never going to use this in real life, so why do I need to learn it!?’ to get out of trying as hard as we could in maths, so we asked Dana what she thinks.

“I get asked that question all the time. Especially from the students I tutor! And I understand, because it’s not always easy to see the bigger picture. But when you’re older you have to start budgeting and it helps with problem solving. Mathematicians are always taught to problem solve and learn how to make calculated decisions. It’s such an important skill in life!”

However, SweeterThanPi always tries to keep maths relatable by using real life examples where possible “I get disturbed by exam papers when they’re like ‘Ali goes to the super market and buys 100 water melons’ Ali doesn’t buy 100 watermelons!” Explains Dana.

We couldn’t leave Dana without first getting a good revision tip for you all, so we asked her for her best recommendation. “Check out Khan Academy on YouTube. He teaches everything and he’s amazing. I’m pretty sure if you went through his videos for 2 hours you’d be fine!”

We hope you all do really well in your exam next week! Make sure you visit SweeterThanPi and check out their cute Instagram feed too. Now you can scroll and revise at the same time!