Student Profile: Garrett Moseley ’23

There’s Nothing I Can’t Do

by Tiffany King

College of Coastal Georgia student Garrett Moseley is constantly trying to defy the odds. He doesn’t believe in letting anything hold him back from taking advantage of opportunities, including experiencing muscular dystrophy for most of his life. Moseley, 18, has already accomplished many things. He graduated from high school early and was at the top of his class, has been published in a mathematics journal, and is considered to be a senior at the College based on his numerous credits earned through dual enrollment. Moseley uses his disability as a motivational tool to push him towards his goals even more.

Moseley has Emery Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy, one of the rarest forms of muscular dystrophy and a lifelong condition. It primarily weakens the heart and the muscles of his arms, legs, and neck. Moseley was diagnosed in the first grade and was told that he would be in a wheelchair by age 16. He was also born with two extra valves in his heart. One valve was corrected via ablation and the second healed on its own.

“I am blessed to have a lot of strength, and I am continually defying the odds. I am proud to say that I can still walk and carry out my daily life with little to no problems,” he said. “There is never anything I can’t do. If I can’t do it the ‘normal’ way, I’ll find a way to do it.”

He began his journey at the College as a dual enrollment student during his freshman year at Wayne County High School. He was originally a member of the high school’s Class of 2021, but was able to graduate a year early because of dual enrollment. Moseley became a full-time Mariner in Fall 2020 and is scheduled to graduate in May 2023. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a concentration in pure/applied mathematics and a minor in writing. His future plans include attending graduate school for math and returning to teach at the College after earning his doctorate.

Math has always been Moseley’s best subject. He considers math to be beautiful and feels that it makes sense to him in a special way. There were two courses that he took as a dual enrollment student that set him on his path of earning a bachelor’s at the College. He took Calculus II with Dr. Aaron Yeager, assistant professor of mathematics, and English Composition II with Dr. Jennifer Gray, professor of English and coordinator of the Writing Center.

“It was in Dr. Yeager’s class that I realized that mathematics was my passion—it is what I could see myself in as both a major and a career,” he said. “Dr. Gray’s class helped me realize that I was skilled at writing and had an interest in composition/rhetoric, thus setting me on the path for my minor.”

Moseley plans to continue pursuing math in graduate school and knows that the writing skills he’s cultivating now will help him in writing research papers then.

Math Research Experiences

In summer 2020, Moseley participated in an undergraduate research project directed by Yeager. Yeager described Moseley as very quick and enthusiastic to learn the history of the research project—random polynomials—and how to use software for computations, and writing proofs. Within a week of students receiving their assignments for the project, Moseley had a rough draft of the solution. The research turned into a manuscript and was accepted for publication in Involve, a mathematics journal published by the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Moseley said being published was “surreal.”

“It’s neat to know that my name is out there in the math community. Hopefully, what we did will spur someone else’s research,” Moseley said.

His research experience in 2020 gave him an idea of what to expect for this summer’s National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at James Madison University. Moseley researched power series and (highly!) nonlinear ordinary differential equations under Dr. Roger Thelwell, associate professor of applied mathematics, Dr. James Sochacki, professor of applied mathematics, and Dr. Mike Lam, associate professor of computer science, along with five other students from across the country. The students were split into groups and focused on different aspects of the project, such as precision analysis and the sensitivity of the power series and differential equations. Moseley and his partner worked on root-finding algorithms that involved reviewing Newton’s Method and Householder’s Method. The eight-week project was done virtually over Zoom and through other collaborative platforms.

“It was a lot of fun. That was the first time they had ever done it virtually, and it was successful. We were very happy at the end, and the mentors were happy with what we go out of it,” he said. “The next steps are to combine what we presented and make it into a paper, then submit for publication.”

Moseley presented his research from summer 2020 at the American Mathematical Society Fall Southeastern Sectional Meeting in October 2020, and at the Young Mathematics Conference hosted at The Ohio State University. He hopes to share this summer’s REU project at the Eagle Undergrad Mathematics Conference next spring.

“I like having the opportunity to share with everybody what we found and talk about it with people in the field. There were some hard questions at the Sectional, but a lot of those questions are helpful because it gives you a chance to think more deeply about what you researched. It’s very surreal at times. I know in the back of my head that I’ve been able to do a lot, so I’m very appreciative,” Moseley said.

Outside of math, Moseley also enjoys working with technology. He works with the Wayne County School System part-time in their technology department taking inventory, doing computer maintenance, and helping with audio and video tasks. He said his job is very accommodating to his disability and he hopes to one day combine his love for both math and technology into a career.

Going Forward

This academic year, Moseley will serve as president of the Math and Data Science Club. He’s excited to work with other math and data science students and wants to host math talks each month.

“It will be a unique experience to hear from experts and other students on campus. Hopefully, we can get students from other fields, like biology and psychology, involved with REUs,” he said. “The best way to learn about a field is through an REU, and so many fields have them.”

His advice to his peers is to take advantage of the College’s resources. He encourages students to find a tutor, reach out to their supplemental instructor, and talk with their professors.

“We have amazing faculty. With our classes being so much smaller, you have that chance to work closer with them,” he said. “The faculty really put an emphasis on teaching instead of only being about research. It’s really good that at a small school we have these resources.”

Moseley is very thankful for all that he’s been able to experience and be a part of at such a young age. He is beyond grateful for his math mentors, Yeager, and Dr. Syvillia Averett, associate professor of mathematics, and for Linny Bailey, career and academic advisor/dual enrollment advisor. With their guidance and support, Moseley is essentially ahead of the game. He is very excited about what the future holds for him and hopes to motivate other students along the way.