Trust me, I know that math is hard. I have cried many times with frustration over how difficult math is. After a year, I had to humbly except the fact that I was not capable of an Honours degree in mathematics. It had been too long since the prerequisite courses. It would take too long for me to relearn the what I had forgotten in time to make sense of the new material. I understand what 99.9% of the world population does not but that 0.1% completely KICKS MY BUTT
So why learn math in the first place? Why is it worth all the effort?
Ken Dryden in his book In School describes it perfectly:
But so little of math is really x’s and y’s, learning, recalling, applying theorems twenty days and twenty years later. It’s learning how to find your way to an answer when you have none. Taking what you know and discovering what you didn’t know you knew...To puzzle and stumble, to know what it feels like when you do understand, that vibration of excitement and pleasure, and the addictive need to feel it over and over (p. 25).
Somethings that have help me along the way:
Find a study buddy
The only reason I made it through Abstract Algebra is because I had a classmate who explained almost everything to me. At first I felt bad because I took up so much of her time until I realized that it was part of her studying process. She knew that explaining to someone else gave her a deeper understanding.
Similarly, you might find a benefit of trying to explain it to someone else. There have been many times as a teacher I started to answer a student's question where I didn't feel completely confident. The more I explained the more I realized "Hey, this actually makes sense!" Sometimes questions from others can lead you to an understanding.
Learn when to walk away from a problem
Many people don't realize that even if you haven't solved a problem your brain keeps working on it (whether you are conscience of it or not). A familiar example: you remember someone's name and just can't. Three weeks later you are in the shower and out of no where it pops into your head. You're brain was working on it the entire time. Sometimes you need to just walk away from a problem, give the conscience part of your mind a break and do something else.
I've been part of group projects where a single problem takes weeks to solve. Sometimes your brain gets so fried you become completely unproductive. We'd stop a couple times a day to go outside and play Frisbee. From experience we all knew that taking a 45 minute break actually saves you time in the long run. A frustrated brain only takes long to solve the problem. Similarly, if I started feeling fatigue from studying I would run up and down the stairs of the library until all I could think about was how tired I was.
Know you are in good company
A little girl wrote a letter to Einstein complaining about her difficulties with arithmetic. His response:
"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Roger, don't worry that you find math hard because even Einstein did.
