Math in America

There was a time when I was good at math. Then, came geometry, and I started to struggle. Proofs were the bain of my existence for about 4 weeks in high school and then it all of a sudden clicked & I was golden, but I started having to actually put effort into the subject that I had breezed through before and I gave up. I didn't like doing homework. I was used to (up to that point) doing a handful of homework assignments and acing the tests, and once I got to a point where I actually had to try, I decided I hated the subject. I made it through Algebra II (although I did have to take it twice due to my unwillingness to turn in homework). I never took physics because of my newfound hatred for math & I regret giving up on the subject. Looking back, the issue was never one of math being exceptionally difficult for me to understand or carry out, but that there lacked a sense of discovery. In math, two plus two always equaled four and what was the fun in that. If you're finding x, you use y formula and everyone should have the same answer. A little older and equally as inquisitive about the world, I wish I would have worked my way up to physics so I could get to the good stuff. If a teacher had told me early on that in some cases two and two could be twenty-five I would need to know how and why. If they pitched to me that I could possibly prove the existence or nonexistence of God with math, I would have been a Physics major instead of political science. When you learn about math no one offers up anything interesting at the basic levels and math remains boring and unmystical. I would like, one day, for someone to teach math the way it should be taught: as a key to unlocking the universe; as a strange and mystical wonder to be awed and enjoyed. The labor that comes with it is less burdensome if attached to it is everything wonderful.