My Dream Of My Life

Since Elementary school, I’ve been in love with math and all that it offers. I get excited with the numbers, the letters, and the equations. It fascinates me how there’s so much depth and that there is always something new with math. Not until I reached high school did I realize that the reason I loved math so much was because it was Algebra. My sophomore year I discovered Geometry, and that is when the loathing began.

As those who love physics or chemistry, or biology, are most likely to understand difficult and complex concepts and be successful in their respective subjects, I became more successful at understanding mathematical concepts as my junior year progressed and as my senior year began. Calculus became an infinitely easier subject and one that I could comprehend with relative ease, even easier than traditionally “easy” subjects for me such as history or language arts. I learned that I could fly through problem sets and enjoy it, and for the first time in my school life, I was the one answering my peers’ questions instead of being the designated clueless classmate. Learning to love something that is so essential to life made me enjoy myself and my life more than I had previously, and I no longer felt the self-doubt of not being “gifted” in mathematics in a group of mathematically “gifted” students. I feel markedly more confident in my mathematical abilities, both presently and in the future as a student majoring in

 The math is something that people usually hate on school. But i don't. I always had facility with calculations. And my love for numbers increased when I firts won a certificat of merit on OBMEP (Brazilian Olympiad of Public School Mathematics).

I view learning as acquiring new lenses in which to better see and understand the world around me. While each subject in school has given me invaluable lessons and information throughout each year, I feel that no other subject has given me a lense so impactful and far-reaching than math. Understandably, the basic courses such as middle or high school algebra and geometry felt vague and abstract because then I was only learning math as a language but not its applications. However, when I moved on to calculus and statistics, math became a lens that could make things clear that I didn't even know were “blurry.” I found that everyday of calculus or statistics classes, I left with more questions than I had entered with. I began seeing my refrigerator

Remember going into second grade and fearing those one minute division tests? I remember very clearly how afraid and intimidated I was. I panicked because I was scared that I was not going to get a good grade on it. To my surprise, I did not get a high score on it compared to my classmates. I was devastated because I had tried really hard on it. After that, I hated math until seventh grade. Math was my worst subject, and I acknowledge I was terrible at it. I hated it so much that after years of hating it, I developed a passion for math. After some years of practicing math, I fell in love with it. Entering middle school, Algebra was introduced. I loved Algebra because I was not only adding numbers, I was solving for certain variables at the

When I sit down to think about critical events in my K-12 experiences, my first thought goes to when I changed schools. I switched from a private school, to a public school between my 3rd and 4th grade years. Once I switched schools, I realized how much more advanced I was in mathematics as compared to my peers. Because I am such a competitive person, I was immediately drawn to the things that I was best at, because then I can “win”. Before I changed schools, I knew that I enjoyed math, but this realization is really what cemented my love of math. So, for this reason, the majority of my life, I’ve known that I wanted to do something related to math. These feelings only intensified as I got older and into classes like Algebra and Pre-Calculus. For me, when I was faced with a math problem, it was like a puzzle. I knew there was an answer and I had faith in myself that I could find the answer if I kept trying hard enough. I enjoyed sitting down, and working on a problem, because it was so rewarding and exciting when I figured out the answer.

Thousands of people move in order to pursue their interests and desires or even have a better life, however, I got bombarded with this experience when I was only 7 years old. I was an inexperienced adolescent who valued nothing but life’s necessities. My youthful self had no ambitions, no dreams, and no aspirations, I was simply happy with the little life has to offer. I was too young to comprehend but now as I’m looking back, I now realize my life changed the instance my parents informed my siblings and I that “we are going to America.”

As a mathematics major, the concept that most people overlook is that I did not choose to study mathematics because I do well at it; I chose to study mathematics because it makes me smarter. In fact, all throughout junior high and high school I was in remedial mathematics classes and worse, I did not even place into a freshman year mathematics class in high school. I had to re-take 8th grade mathematics. However, something about mathematics excited me. Maybe it was the fact that mathematics never came easy to me and I wanted to prove to myself that not only could I pass mathematics classes, I could actually understand and excel at them. For me, mathematics is not about the arbitrary numbers, trivial solutions, meaningless formulas, or repetitive computation: it is about the progress of knowledge and human understanding.

I remember being asked several times during grade school what my favorite subject was. I did not know for a while until third grade. I was outside at the school playground and one of my friend’s mom had asked me. My answer was uncertain at first, so she asked me if I was sure. I then thought about how I enjoyed learning math and practicing it. I smiled and confirmed that math was my favorite subject. After giving this answer several more times adults asked why or would say that it is possible my answer will change over time, and peers would say they hate math or do not understand. This moment was important because I began to take note why I like math, what aspects appealed to me. I questioned if I enjoyed just because it came easy to me.

I grew up with two architects as my parents. From around kindergarten to third grade, I was thoroughly convinced I wanted to become an architect. During third grade, I started to learn what mathematics really consisted of, and I fell completely in love. It was also during that time that I realized that although architecture contained a great amount of math, it was definitely not enough for what I envisioned in my future. For the longest of times, people would ask me what I would like to study in college, and my answer was always I am not sure but it has to comprise of math. At the time I started sixth grade, I found out about engineering, and I was intrigued. My nights in middle school consisted of researching all the different and unique types

Problem solving and applying familiar concepts to unfamiliar situations are a couple reasons behind my devotion for mathematics and sciences. My enjoyment comes from being able to imagine and understand the world by just using simple mathematical equations. I love applying new skills that I have learned to overcome complex situations. Mathematical and physical problems offer me the chance to further develop my knowledge, and motivate me to never give up

In junior High School, things started to turn around for me. Although I was still placed in lower level classes, I developed a love for learning. In the years to come from Junior High to High School, I had a strong urge to make up for lost time. One class I started to excel in was the one I used to have the most trouble with, Mathematics. It seemed as though the once boring and complex equations now seemed meaningful and simple. As I progressed into 8th grade, I was able to advance to normal classes. I felt that the hard work I put in was finally paying of. At this point, I felt that I could handle a higher level. At the end of 8th grade, I took the necessary procedures and tests to try and get into honor - level courses in 9th grade. After taking a summer course of Algebra 1 and several tests I was able to succeed and take the classes. The experience was great. I felt that I was finally going the right direction

“I like the dreams of the future, better than the history of the past” Thomas Jefferson quoted. This relates to my life in many ways. My dreams of the future help me to keep my eye on the prize and to never give up while working towards my dreams. My past is history, as Thomas Jefferson said, but as I have learned, I can choose to learn from my past and move on, or can let it be my present or future again. Even though I would like to go back and change my past, I know that my hardship have made me determined, passionate and caring.

Mathematics, like every creation of man, have evolved without really knowing how far you can get with them: the scope of the computer, physics, chemistry, algebra, all are evidence of this. Every aspect of our culture is based in some way or another in Mathematics: language, music, dance, art, sculpture, architecture, biology, daily life. All these areas of measurements and calculations are accurate. Even in nature, everything follows a precise pattern and a precise order: a flower, a shell, a butterfly, day and night, the seasons. All this makes mathematics essential for human life and they can not be limited only to a matter within the school curriculum; here lies the importance of teaching math in a pleasure, enjoyable and understandable way. Mathematics is an aid to the development of the child and should be seen as an aid to life and not as an obstacle in their lifes.

Life is about change, it’s what makes our lives different from one another.  Without change what do we have to live towards? These thoughts attack my mind everytime the lights go out, or every time my father wants me to become something that I don’t believe is the right route for me. He goes on and on about me becoming the greatest cardiothoracic  surgeon to ever live. When we host simple things like dinner parties, he brags about me being so smart, it’s likes he’s trying to sell me. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad that he’s proud of me, it’s just that I wish he was proud of me for doing something that I want to do. Ever since I was a little girl, I always dreamt of becoming a ballet dancer. Every night at eight pm “Dancing Talent” comes on, it is the only television show that I watch. My father gives me this look and shuts it off everytime he catches me watching. Unfortunately, this is my life and I wish my father would stop conforming me to his regulations and standards.