I hadnt taken a math class in 10 years when I walked into the advisement office at Mesa Community College. I wasnt particularly excited to start a math class either. Math and I? Not friends. This was about a year ago. It was one of those frenzied times where everyone (and literally some of their moms) was trying to get into this class, or that class. I was excitedly and quietly determined in the otherwise palpably dull and crowded room (think DMV). My plan was to knock out a bunch of classes, get passing grades, and get outa there. I was finally summoned to the sort-of-private cubicle of an advisor. When we sat down I told her my plan, which, again, was to do whatever was necessary, as quickly as possible, and to graduate with a business degree and get outa there. Then we got to the math part. I told her I was going to test into the highest tier, and take those math classes so that I could graduate sooner. I couldnt tell you what she said verbatim, but it involved the word cant. We talked. I left. Over the next few weeks Im sure I bothered my math-whiz/physicist brother quite a bit. I borrowed some old math books of his and worked through problems, which I somewhat arbitrarily deemed to be key. When I came across a problem I couldnt solve, I called him. When calling him didnt help me, I went over to his house with whiteboard in-tow and I studied with him in person. After a few weeks I went in to take the math placement test. I didnt test into the highest tier. I wasnt a broken soul or anything but it was a bit of a disappointment. That is until the test proctor told me I was 4 points away from testing into the highest tier and that I could take the test up to two times within a year. I studied for two more weeks, went back in, and tested into the highest tier. I got As in two calculus classes and a business stats class, graduated, and inadvertently proved someone wrong. Someone who believed in cant. Thanks to a brother, teachers, and most fundamentally (in the most humble sense possible) myself, who all simultaneously rejected cant, I was able to learn this math thing. There are tons of people who will tell you that you cant (some people say it so often its like theyre getting paid!). There are more people out there who will not only tell you that you can, but they will act in accordance with that belief. One result of acting in accordance with that belief is Khan Academy. They believe that you can (you didnt think I made it through all that math without googling reduced row echelon form how to, did you?). Khan Academy believes #youcanlearnanything. Do you?
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 22:06:48 +0000