Math woes

Katie D.

September 25, 2011 - 7:11 PM

I have a confession: I am terrible at math.

I try really hard to hide this fact, just like I do everything I can to conceal my abysmal spelling skills. But in fact, my math issues are extensive enough to contribute to a piece of my ongoing family jokes. Last tax season, I called my aunt (a tax accountant and generally numbers-brilliant person), nearly in tears, and told her I had tried really hard to do my own taxes, but that they were just "too numbery."

I live in a wordy world. Numbers have not been my friends.

I remember a time I was good at math, and that great sense of solving an equation correctly. But somewhere in high school I lost the joy of math, and my college years have been mostly math-free, except for statistics (which I can muddle through so long as I see the real-world application).

I was living my life mostly in peace with my math deficiency, until I stumbled across a podcast that made me change my mind. For anyone who likes to experience a wide range of cutting edge human achievement, I highly recommend visiting TED talks (here: http://www.ted.com/) for an amazing range of lectures by outstanding academics and practitioners from across disciplines and around the world. As I was listening (and not planning on having my math world rocked), I clicked on a lecture by Salman Khan (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html) , addressing how the internet could revolutionize education and our expectations of learning. Among other things, he describes how students might get decent grades in math or science, but the 5% or 10% of material they don't absorb might be a cornerstone of future concepts. I realized that I might have missed something small, a long time ago, which is still limiting me today.

His website, Khan Academy, has brief video lectures of single concepts in math. Then you can do sample problems on your own, and check your accuracy before moving on.

Perhaps this resolve to undertake math studies is really just an expression of how desperate I am for UO classes to begin again. But I can't help but think that there are lots of numbers out in the world. I might be able to look a "numbery" concept in the face someday, and perhaps even conquer it on my own.

For now, I am coming to terms with this math limitation, and am confronting it head-on. A week ago, I began with basic algebra. I have watched a lecture or completed practice exercises every day (no excuses!).

Tonight, on the eve of the new school year, I have already launched. Graduate school holds no fear in comparison to algebra. And here I am, boldly studying away.

Bring on those linear equations! I am so ready.