As an English major, literature and other writing-intensive subjects have come natural to me from an early age on. I discovered early on that I am absolutely wretched at subjects that contain any amount of math. I have been fighting an intense battle with numbers since I moved beyond basic arithmetic. These are battles that I have constantly lost. I cannot recall how many big, fat "F’s" on quizzes and exams have seen the light of the day with my name on them since the sixth grade. When I was younger, I would brush my failure off, and only consider it a five-second wound to my ego.
I recognized my true lack of competence in mathematics the summer before my first year of college, when I was asked to take a prerequisite math class before moving on to college math. I failed the class when I took it over the summer. I failed again it during the fall quarter. I also failed it during the following spring quarter. If we’re keeping track here, I failed that course three times. I did eventually manage to pass the class and move on to college math! However, my little detour taught me several things I plan to carry with me in the future:
1. Failure is an option.
I am not saying one should strive to fail, all I am is saying is that failure happens to best of us and it is not the end of the world. I freaked out when I realized that I wouldn't pass the class, but once I regained my composure I realized that things would not be so bad because I would already be familiar with the topics being discussed the next time around.
2. Math never changes.
Instructors of mathematics often put their own flare on teaching the same concepts over and over again. While this made each retake of the same course something new to look forward too, I was effectively being taught the same concepts that has been taught to students for decades. It’s actually sort of beautiful. We are unaware of the hundreds of thousands of past students that sat in the same positions as us, suffering in the same manner.
3. You have to try hard to fail a class.
I have heard instructors say this countless times, but it never really made any sense to me. Failing this same course made me realize that from the start I was not even trying to pass. I had this idea that if I just attended the class these instructors would hand me a free pass into college. I was deliberately doing my worst by not turning in homework assignments, not studying for tests (leading to failing those tests) and skipping class.
