Scholarship Profile: Katherine L. Sember

“I love the joy you get when you help somebody understand math,” said Katherine L. Sember.

Sember describes herself as a huge fan of calculus in particular. “I love the equations,” she said. “And I really like the way math is black and white, although sometimes there is a little gray area when equations involve the fourth dimension.” She is fascinated by π, too. “It’s mindboggling,” she said, “the way it goes on forever.”

Besides completing three math classes—she hopes to take all the college’s math classes before she graduates—Sember studied jewelry making, philosophy, literature, and chemistry in her first year. “I love to learn,” she said. “What I love about college is that people are willing to help you learn everything about a subject.”

Another love is Buffalo. “The four seasons are wonderful,” she said. “I think Buffalo State is most beautiful in fall and winter.”

When it came to choosing a major, Sember chose math education over her second choice, art, because she believes that the joy she derives from the study and practice of math is inexhaustible. “I’ll always have art and music in my life, too” she said.

Sember is on the volleyball team, and she was named to the State University of New York Athletic Conference all-star second team.

Her dreams for college include continuing to play volleyball, studying abroad, and earning a coaching minor. “I believe that coaching helps you work with children,” she said. “You have to know what motivates each student.”

Her high school teachers chose Sember as the recipient of the Robert J. Lamendola Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship alternates between a Kenmore East and Kenmore West graduating senior who is attending Buffalo State, and it covers the cost of college tuition for four years.

“It’s amazing that a person would do that for someone else,” said Sember. “Mr. Lamendola has taken finances off my mind completely, and I’ll have a future without the restraints of indebtedness. I hope I can do the same thing for someone else some day.”