Tuesday, May 23, 2006

I Don't Like Math

MATH 1400 - College Algebra - I believe it is important for a person to know a lot of things throughout life, but these are just two and they sort of contradict each other. One, you need to know what you aren't good at. Two, you can be good at anything. Both of these lessons are closely tied to my relationship with Math.

It is clear to me, and especially others at times, that I am no math whiz. I got a poor grade in College Algebra the first time around because the teacher spoke a combination of German and English to us, let us call it Germlish. I can honestly put 99% of the blame on him for my poor grade. I didn't have to take the class again, but I wanted to keep that grade from affecting my GPA. By the way, the second time around I got a B--really still not that impressive, but an improvement upon the first grade. I truly don't enjoy mathematics to a euphoric level like some of my great friends do and this is precisely why I am not the best at it. However, this is where the "Two" factor comes in from the previous paragraph. I believe so strongly that if I put forth maximum effort and time into becoming great at something there is no limit as to what that something could be. You may think I am an arrogant bastard now, but I don't see anything unhealthy about having this level of confidence in myself. If it was mathematics that I wanted to be a stud in, fine, I believe I could do it. If it was Scrabble, and I wanted to play in the world championship, then why the heck should I discount myself?

I believe you can be good at anything, but it is important not to forget that you can't be good at everything simultaneously. You have to find a few things that you really want to be great at and then fine tune those for the rest of your life.

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