Mathochism: A different solution

One woman’s attempt to revisit the math that plagued her in school. But can determination make up for 25 years of math neglect?

Having to withdraw from pre-calc after failing the first test was still bothering me this morning, even as I relished sleeping in, having a leisurely breakfast and a long shower.

But as I was drying my hair, I had an idea. Why not go to the pre-calc professor’s office after class, and ask him if I could sit in on lectures a few days a week?

After all, I’d been planning to go through the material at a more leisurely pace anyway, since I feel a bit leery of my fall instructor’s reviews on ratemyprofessors.com, and want to be prepared. And the college is not giving me a refund, even though I am avoiding a “W” on my transcript.

Mathochism: A painful withdrawal

One woman’s attempt to revisit the math that plagued her in school. But can determination make up for 25 years of math neglect?

Things started positively enough this morning. We covered translations, which are all about graphing a function and moving it up, down, right, left, flipping it, thinning it, etc.

I felt very comfortable with this, since I remembered it from the Brofessor’s class, and it’s actually something he taught me successfully without my needing outside help.

But at the end of the class, we got our tests. I was resigned to a B, or a high C.

I got an F. 58 percent, two points from 60. Two points from a D.

Mathochism: Brain reboot

One woman’s attempt to revisit the math that plagued her in school. But can determination make up for 25 years of math neglect?

The first week of pre-calc is over. So is the first test.

All I can do is sigh. This class is equivalent to a full-time job, with three hours of instruction and four to five hours of homework a day. This means blogging daily is impossible, because I also need to shower, and eat, and sleep, and just turn my brain off for a moment.

I hope to be able to write at least twice a week, though one of those entries will likely be short.

So far, the material isn’t entirely befuddling. I had some issues with the unit circle, and the reintroduction to functions (I think I finally have domains and ranges and interval notation down), but this instructor continues to impress me with his clear explanations and attention to detail.

Mathochism: The true mathochism

One woman’s attempt to revisit the math that plagued her in school. But can determination make up for 25 years of math neglect?

Pre-calculus began today, and it’s going to be intense.

For one thing, class begins before 8 a.m.. It’s almost three hours long. And it’s EVERY weekday. Our first test is on Friday, and there will be five tests plus one final, which means a test a week. And I have a pile of homework I must get to as soon as I finish this.

I’m exhausted just thinking about it, but I don’t think I can stomach more coffee. Maybe a quick nap would work?

The good news is that the instructor seems great. Like the Dapper and Dour professors, he is black. But unlike them, he is American, not Nigerian. So there are no foreign accents to decipher, though I never had an issue with those.

Mathochism: Dasvidanya, Uchitel!

One woman’s attempt to revisit the math that plagued her in school. But can determination make up for 25 years of math neglect?

Geometry has been over for two days now, and it feels a bit strange.

I don’t know how I did on the fourth test. I’m not sure how I did on the final. There were no surprises, but there were too many proofs for me to feel comfortable.

I still haven’t entirely got the hang of proofs, and don’t know if I ever will. Does this mean the math phobe in me won’t ever die?

I will miss Uchitel. I really wish he, or the dapper or dour professors, were teaching pre-calculus. Of course, the Brofessor is teaching it this fall. What a shame.

Anyway, the geometry experience was far less painful this time. Despite my proof hate, I learned a lot. And in 11 days, it begins again.

Bring it on, math bitchez.

All text copyrighted by A.K. Whitney, and cannot be used without permission.

Mathochism: Brain freeze

One woman’s attempt to revisit the math that plagued her in school. But can determination make up for 25 years of math neglect?

I will never look at an ice cream cone the same way again.

The last chapter test was yesterday, and covered areas, locii and — I had hoped briefly — spheres, cones and cylinders. I confess I spent most of my time studying areas and locii. Heron’s formula, Brahmagupta’s formula and special triangles (ugh) were highest on my list, since we’d spent weeks on them. Uchitel covered volumes for about 20 minutes, and didn’t even assign homework.

Still, I did try to memorize volumes, but I guess it didn’t stick. When confronted with a problem that asked me to figure out the volume of a scoop of ice cream, I got brain freeze (sorry, couldn’t resist!). I remembered the volume of a sphere, but the one for a cone was nowhere to be found. Damn. Oh well, so much for ending well. (Why do I so often stumble at the finish line? Self-hatred? Self-sabotage? WTF?)

I’ll have to make up for it on the final, which is next week. We have one more lecture, a review, and then the final, and then that’s it — geometry is over!

I think I may even miss it! I will miss Uchitel, who made this otherwise torturous subject pleasant. I wish he was teaching pre-calc this summer. I am rather worried about this upcoming class. But for now, I must start reviewing. It’s not over yet.

All text copyrighted by A.K. Whitney, and cannot be used without permission.