My Experience With Math example essay topic

This course had forced me to analyze the psychological effects one's negative thinking has in impacting the ability to embrace a situation that originally may be perceived as fear. My first obstacle with this course was to admit to myself that I had created my own fear of math. I had fully produced what I now view to be a huge challenge. The inevitable had finally arrived. I had postponed my taking this math class for close to ten years.

I was now at age 29 sitting in a math class that I had avoided through out my collegial career. So here I was, struggling from the beginning, prior to a math problem even being placed on the board. I was struggling with the bigger problem of fear. I was automatically, subconsciously closing off any ability I may have had in dealing with this thing called math.

I had from the beginning condition my mind to press pause when the subject of math was mentioned. However I had one thing going for me, it was my determination to get through this class. I now reflect on the fact that when working on my pre-assignment, the feeling of fear was minimal, I concluded that it was it was because I was at home alone in a non-intimidating environment. How would I reproduce this comfort in a classroom filled with other students?

This question, I now understood was the root of all my fears, I was deathly afraid to look 'dumb' in front of others. I will never forget that first day, I was finally situated in class and Ms. Most asked the class to explain what our opinions and past experiences were with math. When I gained enough confidence to revile the honesty of my fears, I was asked to think back and analyze when it was that I had first felt this fear. I shared that I had a teacher in fifth grade that once responded to a comment by another student regarding my inability to grasp the concept of math that "Rebeca, doesn't grasp it as easy as others do" she said this of course, out loud in a class full of my peers; from that point on I rebelled, I wanted nothing to do with math.

Yet, here I was today left with my realities and consequences of a long life struggle and fear that perhaps was begun by a teachers comment. Hoping and prying that my current peers and instructor would understand why this class was going to be the biggest academic challenge that I had face to date. I was incredibly relieved that my peers and my instructor were supportive and in addition, Ms. Most had also explained to me that she had other students who had my same feelings towards math that I had. The second class was not as easy. By the end of the class I was frustrated and struggling with each math problem that was being written in a language so foreign to me that I felt as if I had been transplanted to another continent. Ms. Most took the time to walk through the problems with those of us who we were struggling.

By the end of the second class it was agreed that I would undergo a daily dose of one on one math tutoring. So it was. By the third class I was confidant with my newfound math ability regardless of the occasional relapse of my math phobia episodes. I was continuing to be challenged with the increasing difficulty of the work, I was also starting to feel the burn out of doing math on an almost daily basis which cold mean up to six pages a day. At the end of the thirds class I was feeling overwhelmed once again. By this point my only condolence was that I had gotten through three classes and I had one left.

And so, began another round of daily tutoring. I am grateful, happy and relieved that my last piece of work in this class was to write about my exhausting experience with math. I am sincerely glad that it is over. Beyond numbers and the general concept of this math class; I was able to realize that to prevail succeed and overcome, you must leave any initial bias behind and open yourself up to challenges, regardless of the magnitude of your phobias and fears.