- #1
Zill1
- 24
- 0
About three years ago or so, I came to this site complaining that for the life of me, I couldn't pass calculus 1. I just couldn't grasp it. I thought I was bad at math, couldn't do it, and was destined for something far less. Fast forward to now and I am about to graduate with a double major in mathematics and economics (with a specialization in econometrics), and boy did I learn a lot.
First thing I learned was that I wasn't actually bad at math; it turns out I was actually one of those guys who "gets" math; I was just a lazy piece of crap. I was always one of those people who would go to a lecture, understand everything, then never do a practice question. Obviously this is ridiculous and a recipe to fail. What I would later learn is that a great majority of my classmates would leave the same classes having no clue what the professor just said, but they would go home, grind out the questions for hours and pull an A while I managed to scoot by with a pitty D. Idiotic. I think of the money I wasted failing functions, failing calculus... just head shaking.
Secondly I noticed something strange about the pure vs applied route. I was ALWAYS interested in the applied route. I loved things like all the levels of applied linear algebra, financial mathematics, probability and statistic applications, time series, combinatory stuff... but I always struggled in it. It was tough for me. This is ironic because I remember taking my 2000 level math courses, looking at my schedule in the fall when I had ODEs, PDEs, applied algebra 2, and my econometrics courses and just DREDDED when I looked at the winter semester... Real analysis, number theory, discrete, algebraic structures. Time came for me to actually take the courses and I didn't get a single mark under a B+, and I had no trouble with any of it... considering the fact that the semester before I got a C in ODEs... I definitely learned a lot about my brain after that point.
There isn't much point to this thread except that I was curious as to whether anyone else made similar discoveries to this, and I just wanted to say that taking mathematics was the greatest thing I have ever done in terms of "self discovery", and managing to obtain a degree in it is the most satisfying thing I have ever done, and I envy all those struggling freshman college kids going to do it right now.
Soon I'll be starting my MSc, and I'm hoping to continue the journey!
First thing I learned was that I wasn't actually bad at math; it turns out I was actually one of those guys who "gets" math; I was just a lazy piece of crap. I was always one of those people who would go to a lecture, understand everything, then never do a practice question. Obviously this is ridiculous and a recipe to fail. What I would later learn is that a great majority of my classmates would leave the same classes having no clue what the professor just said, but they would go home, grind out the questions for hours and pull an A while I managed to scoot by with a pitty D. Idiotic. I think of the money I wasted failing functions, failing calculus... just head shaking.
Secondly I noticed something strange about the pure vs applied route. I was ALWAYS interested in the applied route. I loved things like all the levels of applied linear algebra, financial mathematics, probability and statistic applications, time series, combinatory stuff... but I always struggled in it. It was tough for me. This is ironic because I remember taking my 2000 level math courses, looking at my schedule in the fall when I had ODEs, PDEs, applied algebra 2, and my econometrics courses and just DREDDED when I looked at the winter semester... Real analysis, number theory, discrete, algebraic structures. Time came for me to actually take the courses and I didn't get a single mark under a B+, and I had no trouble with any of it... considering the fact that the semester before I got a C in ODEs... I definitely learned a lot about my brain after that point.
There isn't much point to this thread except that I was curious as to whether anyone else made similar discoveries to this, and I just wanted to say that taking mathematics was the greatest thing I have ever done in terms of "self discovery", and managing to obtain a degree in it is the most satisfying thing I have ever done, and I envy all those struggling freshman college kids going to do it right now.
Soon I'll be starting my MSc, and I'm hoping to continue the journey!