Remember being taught something new in a mathematics class and thinking to yourself, “when am I ever going to use this in life?” Sure, not every mathematical theory taught in class will be used in your career, but from my experience, many of the skills learned in mathematics are frequently utilized each day. While mathematics may not be everyone’s favorite subject, I found it to be not only the subject I use the most outside of school, but the one that I enjoy the most, which is why mathematics is my favorite subject. 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 believe that there are two different ways in which the world develops; the first is through the advancement of history and human
The general belief around the country (or perhaps even the world) is that math classes will be beneficial to a well rounded student. In some cases, such as the author argued, this might be true as a recent high school graduate who hasn't had the life experiences that someone later in their life might have. The author continues to explain that in their line of previous work and general experience, they already have the general math knowledge that their degree will need.
Math has always been a challenge for me because I find algebra to often be confusing, but I have learned through my involvement with advanced competitive dance that quitting never feels as good as conquering your own fears. This contributes to why I have sought not only advanced placement history classes to really help me focus on mastering complex topics, but I have also challenged myself to take many honors and elective courses while very difficult, have helped me immensely with maintaining an expanding mind and giving me the foundations on how to live life with a
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
Studying Maths has extremely engaged me as it gives me an insight to mathematical theories. Maths uses its own language of numbers, formulas and rules to communicate across ideas through mathematical models. Moreover, Maths has enabled me to understand the mathematics that reinforce many aspects of our lives. It has assisted me to apply a range of Maths skills to real world situations and have the ability to interpret and analyse information. These are the skills that I have developed which I hope to express in my undergraduate degree.
The benefits and opportunities to embrace engineering far outweigh the difficulties in the process, but despite this, my pure love for mathematics has been the major contributor to my ambitions. From a young age, I found math incredibly enjoyable. The order and consistency found through something as simple as the order of operations served as a driving force to my curiosity and dedication to the subject. As the mathematical concepts intensified, I was able to adequately keep up and enjoy the journey along the way. While signing up for my senior year classes, the decision to take calculus was made easily. While speaking with the instructor, Yvonne Sebastian, I discovered that her love for math was derived from similar feelings. In an interview with Sebastian, she stated, “Math is a beautiful thing. Numbers are incredibly simple, but they can be used to calculate very complex scenarios. No matter how difficult a problem may seem, there is always a solution, an answer that can be found and understood through the power of math” (Y. Sebastian, personal communication, February 14, 2017). Interacting with a teacher who understood to a great level of degree my similar feelings regarding math has been an incredible motivator in my desire to pursue a career which incorporates mathematics frequently. For any individual to be happy with their occupation, I would argue that they must experience a desire to progress
Since I can remember, math has always been easy and exciting to me. In high school, the only classes I looked forward to involved math – other than sports. Upon entering college at Eastern Oklahoma State College on an academic and cheerleading scholarship, I chose mathematics as my major. When I came to Oklahoma State University in 2011, I was extremely unsure of what I wanted to study. I started out in architectural engineering because I knew that I loved math and numbers, as well as drawing and designing things. After a semester or so, I realized that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would and didn’t think I could build a career with it. I pursued another direction and changed my major to applied mathematics. I still wasn’t happy with my decision but was unsure on what to do next. During my second year at Oklahoma State, I joined the Cowboy Baseball Diamond Dolls. After getting to know some of the girls, I learned that some of them were in the sports management program. They all
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
Personally, the term “Algebra” intimidates me and making it a required course in my degree program seemed a little discouraging when I first enrolled in college. However, I understand the necessity for students to study, understand and retain advance levels of math. This will not only advance them at a personal level but might set them apart from future career competitors.
I’m not a math kind of person. In fact, it was the subject that I struggled the most with when I was in high school. But looking back I know that algebra does matter, it will improve my life today and it will improve my future. I believe that if I don’t give up and take algebra and give hundred percent, I can become a millionaire. Algebra will make me a smarter human not only becoming more proficient in math. Algebra ignites a different part of our brain that most subjects don’t force us to see patterns and what ends up happening is that it stimulates these things called dendrites. Dendrites, which are tiny hairlike channels that carry information to different parts of our brain, so in essence when you study algebra you’re allowing your
When thinking about my experiences with math, I compare them to a rollercoaster. There are some days where I love math and there are some days where math and I just don't get along. My past experience stems from poor teachings but, also great teachings. I can remember back to elementary school and absolutely loving math, but when it came to high school, I didn't find I suited it. I think this may be because I didn't have teachers who made me interested in math. Even though I came from really enjoying math, high school teachers turned me away from it. Recently, I found myself working in the Simcoe school board teaching STEAM to grades 3-9 and absolutely loved everything about it. I think I enjoyed it so much because it was so different from
As a student from grade school to high school math has been my favorite and strongest subject. Thought out the year’s math has been easy A and never had to study for. Over the 12 years in school all my teacher have taught the same way the will work on a problem and we do similar as she/he did, then we it came to test you just had to memorize the steps to pass.
I love to solve math equations because it makes me feel great joy to know that I got the correct answer. I get frustrated when I do not get the correct answer because that means that I did not comprehend the process that I have to take to get the correct answer. I also like math because some of the equations that I have to solve are long and makes me exercise my brain. Math is like a puzzle sometimes because you have to put the correct numbers in the correct spots or the equation will not work. Just like in some puzzles you have to put the correct piece in the correct spot or the puzzle will not work. This subject has shown me not to give up with things even if they are complicated. I do not quit trying until I get the correct answer for the problem. This subject has shown me that things can be complicated but I will be able to overcome them if I do not stop trying. This subject has always been fun to me and has always been interesting to me. This subject has made me think about becoming a math teacher in some occasions. I feel like I would do a great job at teaching how math is done. I am always helping other classmates in math class and explaining how to do the equation. My classmates have told me that I am good at math and at explaining how it is done and that makes me feel good about myself. Math is my favorite subject because it makes me feel good about myself, I get to exercise my brain, it teaches me not to give up and because I get to help
Math was always a subject that I struggled with throughout all of my years in school. This was actually brought to my attention when I was getting ready for my high school graduation party a few years ago. I was putting together an album of various pictures and other documents of things I had collected throughout my life, from Prekindergarten to my senior year of high school. Some of these documents included school projects, documentation from my school of how much I 'd grown in a year, and most importantly my report cards. While looking at them, I realized, how consistently average, or in some cases below average, I was in math.
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.
My favorite academic subject would be history because there are so many historical events to learn about and I’m always curious on how the U.S functioned in the past. It has influenced me because every unit we go through in history class it gets me interested and want to learn more about it. The thing I hate is when we are learning something and the bell rings. Everyday I walk through the door and I am ready to learn something new. And what I like about that class is that I never get bored. Moreover, It's exciting because the events and historical people we get to learn about are inspiring. Like for example in history class I learn about Martin Luther King an African American who fought for their Civil Rights for his own race. He fought for their liberty and no matter what the other race did to him and the people around him, he still kept fighting for his and the others rights. For some reason he didn't just get the civil rights for him, but it also helped other races. After all, I love history because I get to learn how societies functioned, how people interacted with each other, how governments were run, and about the cultures of countries I usually have never been to before. Another reason why I love history is that it answers a lot more questions than I originally thought it would. For me, it's like exploring a world I've never been to, or can't go to. This are the things that make me want to learn more about because the people in our history book are historic and they