Maths, a subject of curiosity
and debate amongst the world's most exceptional minds; it is also the subject
that had befuddled me throughout my student life.
It's not like I can't do maths, it's just that I really can't get
my head around it.
And clearly, it's the reason why I pretty much despised my school
life.
The thing is, in school you're brought up to believe that maths is
the only subject you need to do well in.
If you did well in literature, geography or history for that
matter, no one would give a damn.
But damn you, if you ever flunked in maths.
Then your teacher, your parents, even that one nosy relative, would be up in arms questioning you.
Till primary school, maths was of no concern to me, since all it had was simple calculations.
My real struggle was the complex stuff that came in high school.
Stuff like algebra, the equations, and what not.
The one thing I liked out of those was geometry and only because
it involved drawing triangles and shit.
But since it was maths, even geometry had calculations, and that I
didn't like one bit.
My parents would make me
attend classes after classes, just so that I could improve in maths.
However, it was all a waste cause my grades showed no signs of
improvement even after all the effort I put in.
When it came to studying other subjects, I had absolutely no
problem.
Maths was my Achilles heel and I secretly used to wish that I
didn't have to study it.
I never shared that same sentiment for literature, which I loved
the most.
Science felt tricky but only to a certain extent.
What made it worse was that my sisters were good at it and always
set a bar that my parents hoped I would one day surpass.
I was unfazed by that until a certain incident happened when I was in sixth grade or so.
It was the start of our new school term and on the first day, my class
was introduced to our maths teacher.
She began by asking who had older siblings in this school and
many raised their hands, including me.
Then she took my sister's name and asked who was related to her,
this time only my hand stood raised.
She looked at me and asked the same question again, as if trying
to ascertain if it was true.
I didn't give it too much thought and nodded my head.
However, it all started when during her classes she directed all her maths problems to me, hoping I could solve them.
And me being me, I couldn't.
It was a lot puzzling to me and she too felt the same; later she
completely gave up on expecting me to solve any problems.
I guess she might have figured out that not every genius student
has an equally genius sibling.
I still wish I had understood her intention so I could've made that
fact clear to her from the start.
As my school life got over, I did wonder what I would in my future
since maths was that one enemy I had to face in any career path I chose.
I was safe in my junior
college since maths was an optional subject and I stayed as far as I could from
it.
But it bounced back once
again to bother me in my first year of degree college.
I nearly failed that subject
in my first term, all because I still felt I couldn’t do it.
My mom insisted me to take classes or risk failing in maths, again.
However, I said to myself,
that this time I had enough.
I started spending less time playing around and more time studying maths.
Then the second term exams came and I was completely prepared.
I did well and I passed the subject, something I was proud of,
something I was dying to do in my school life.
It wasn't just hard work or dedication; it was simply my own will
power to prove that if I put my mind to it, I could do anything.
And that is something I still believe to this date.
Though, if anyone ever asks
me if would want to study maths again, I'd totally respond by saying, "Maths? Nah bro, not even once"
