The MAA and the Northeastern Section are here for you! Here are some ways you can start to connect with our community.

• Have you thought about attending a Section meeting? There are two each year (more information is here), held at various universities in the Northeast. Speakers and panels at these meetings always give interesting and enjoyable presentations on different areas of mathematics and its teaching; you’ll learn a lot of beautiful things. During the fall meetings (and sometimes during the spring ones) there is a conference session devoted to presentations by undergraduate students, where you can hear about (or talk about) research you or others have worked on or other interesting math. Undergraduate students are welcomed at the section meetings with low-cost registrations; additional special discounts are usually available for participants in the CMC (see below) and presenters in student paper sessions. Ready to check it out? Talk to your school’s faculty about getting a group together, or just come yourself. We’d love to see you!

• Have you heard about the Collegiate Mathematics Competition? This is a problem solving contest held annually at the Section’s fall meeting, where individuals or small teams can work to solve mathematical challenges while having fun. More information on the CMC (including information on registering for it) can be found at its site.

• Have you thought about becoming a student member of the MAA? There are a lot of benefits, especially for students—check out the long list on the national MAA’s site. (Note that when student members graduate, they are also eligible for transitional MAA memberships, available at a highly discounted rate for a few years while they begin their careers.)

• Have you been working on mathematical research of any kind, perhaps with a faculty member at your school? In addition to the student presentation session at the biannual Northeastern Section MAA meetings, you can share your research at a couple of nearby conferences for undergraduate research. Regular examples include the Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (and previously the North Shore Undergraduate Math Conference).

If any of the above sounds good to you, talk to the chair of your school’s Mathematics Department. It may be the case that your school has a departmental MAA membership. (If so, you can most likely get your membership for free!) Even if your school doesn’t, your chair might be aware of support you can receive to help you get started. And even without an MAA membership, you are very welcome to attend Section meetings, the CMC, and of course conferences put on by other organizations. Please join us—we’d love to meet you!