As an English major, reading and writing are my two favorite things. Any class that involves reading books and writing papers is bound to be an enjoyable one. Then there is math. Math is the one subject that English majors don't really like, and wish to avoid at all costs. We would rather and solve the problem of "what is the theme of this book" than solve a math problem.
I am currently taking statistics in order to complete my math requirement for college. I went into the class dreading on having to spend my summer solving math problems. Yet, I learned something. Math is actually fun. With the right teacher, precise note taking and paying attention in class math makes sense. Math is solving a puzzle using numbers and functions. It surprised me that I am actually enjoying the class. Math was never a favorite subject of mine. I always enjoyed English and history, or really any class that involved a lot reading and writing.
Math does not come easy to me, nor to anyone who would rather read Hemingway and Shakespeare and write papers or anything creative. Math is teaching me better study skills. That I have to work out multiple problems that are similar to one another in order to grasp the concept of what/how I have to solve the problem. Math is teaching me to take better notes. That sometimes it is okay to write out everything and write out several examples. Math is teaching me that it is okay to ask questions, even if you think that the question is dumb because other people are wondering the exact same thing.
Math is a puzzle, just like how literature is like a puzzle. The difference between the two is that I am looking for different things. In math, I am looking for one or two numbers to answer a question. In literature, I am looking for the theme, symbols, character development and different ways a story or poem can be interpreted. Math and literature are not that different from one another. The main difference is one uses numbers and the other uses words and ideas.
Math is very logical; there is one way to correctly solve a problem. English is more abstract: there are many interpretations to a piece of literature. Math is very direct, so it is nice to have one way to do solve something, even though it can be frustrating when you want a short cut, and there is none. To all the humanities majors and other majors that don't require a lot of math, just give it a chance. It's not easy, but nothing is ever easy. Just think of math like one big puzzle. Pretend to be Sherlock Holmes on a case, use your deductive reasoning (the logic behind the problem) and solve. Like me, you might actually find math to be fun.
