Jordan Guillory's first research paper as a community college student in San Diego was quite literally a star-studded affair.
"We were studying double stars and attempting to calculate their orbits," he remembers. "I had a lot of opportunities to get involved in research early on, and that's what really got me involved in the research community [at UCR]."
On the eve of graduating from the University of California, Riverside with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Jordan reflects on his overall experience at UCR.
"UCR has great classes, and you'll do a lot of learning here,” he says. “But the main benefit of coming to this school is that it's a hub of opportunities and different pathways you can take. It's your job as a student to explore these opportunities.”
Jordan adds, “College is like a playground…you can have a lot of different experiences which will help you amass a skill set that will carry you through the rest of your life."
Growing up in Encinitas, CA, Jordan attended San Dieguito Academy, and initially thought he would major in physics thanks to the passionate STEM faculty he encountered. “I was interested in physics because I had a pretty influential teacher,” he explains. “His passion for physics inspired me to pursue the subject.”
After graduating from San Dieguito and enrolling at San Diego Miramar and Mesa colleges, Jordan felt himself being pulled in a different direction academically. “I began to be more and more interested in math,” he recalls, “because I like the foundation-building process…that’s something that was present in math that it sometimes felt we were skipping in the physics classes.”
Jordan remembers the initial college transition being a tough one. “I didn’t have the study skills I needed to be successful in college,” he says. “I was working two full-time jobs, and juggling that and school was very difficult for me.”
Jordan credits those challenges with teaching him an important lesson that would serve him well throughout his college career. “The experience forced me to get really good at balancing a lot of things,” he says.
Armed with this newfound sense of balance, Jordan brought his insatiable curiosity to UCR. “When I came to visit the school, I really enjoyed the community,” he recalls. “I knew I would have a good support system if I came here.”
Support systems for College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) transfer students include the Peer Mentors program, a group of CNAS students trained to assist new transfers with navigating undergraduate life and developing skills for success.
Now a Peer Mentor himself, Jordan credits the students he encountered with helping him successfully transition to UCR. "By talking to them and having them introduce me to the school and show me a bunch of different resources,” he says, “I knew I would be successful.”
One of those resources was the Digital Agricultural Fellowship (DAF), a 15-month paid research program Jordan joined at the beginning of his senior year. Designed for undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience in agriculture and research, the program works to revitalize interest in agriculture as a career by providing students with the experience and guidance necessary to enter the U.S. agricultural workforce.
Given his interests in math and data science, Jordan says the DAF was a natural fit. “I really enjoy mathematical research because it allows me to actually solve problems,” he says. “When it comes to research, you’re actually getting to use mathematical tools and seeing how they function in real life.”
As a DAF fellow, Jordan worked with co-project director Professor Ray G. Anderson on classifying crops using satellite imagery. He will continue the fellowship this summer by interning with a digital agriculture company in San Diego.
In addition to pursuing research, Jordan continued to nurture his academic interests by immersing himself in a diverse array of mathematical fields, taking courses in discrete math and linear algebra. He even opted to enroll in a reading course on category theory, exploring the theory of mathematical structures and their relations to one another.
“What I really enjoyed about that class was that it was a completely new area,” he says. “I had no reference for it because I hadn’t even been introduced to it.”
While such a prospect would be daunting for some students, Jordan clearly relishes the opportunity to dive into brand-new subjects. “I’m not afraid to be wrong a lot of the time,” he says. “Taking those educated guesses that turn out to be wrong has given me opportunities to learn and develop a solid foundation.”
As Jordan's academic and research interests have evolved, so too has his learning style. “I’ve always been someone who’s liked reading and learning by myself,” he explains. “That’s why I struggled in high school…I would study the things I was interested in, which were often different from what the class was talking about.”
Jordan found the group-based approach he encountered in his math courses particularly helpful. "I discovered a limit to how much I can learn at once," he says. “Working with a small group and being able to talk about ideas is something I really enjoy.”
After graduating from UCR, Jordan plans on pursuing a Master’s degree at San Francisco State University in the fall, with an eye towards eventually earning his Ph.D.
“I plan to delay joining ‘the real world,’” he jokes. "There’s a lot I need to keep learning!”
In thinking about his time at UCR, Jordan is struck by the sheer number of opportunities he encountered both inside and outside of the classroom. “It’s been a great experience, and I’ve learned about a lot of different perspectives,” he says. “I feel like my world completely changed by the amount of exposure I got at UCR.”
According to Jordan, that’s the key to a successful UCR experience.
"Take the time to explore as much as you can," he says, "and test as many things as possible.”
Learn more about Jordan’s time in the Digital Agriculture Fellowship (DAF)
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