Georgia Marshall, Freshman
Everybody has that one class. You know, the one you just can’t seem to wrap your head around. You tell yourself that it’s okay and not as hard as you’re making it out to be. Just ask for help, right? First, you beg your friend who seems to know what’s going on to grant you their wisdom. They try to explain it, but it won’t click. So you turn to your teacher. As they describe the process of unlocking this knowledge, it makes sense. But when you sit down to do the work, the words/numbers/scientific jargon float around in front of your eyes, and you’re just as confused as before. Maybe you ask for help from a parent or meet with your tutor a couple of times, but eventually, you come to a realization that sets you free. The answer is clear: this class just isn’t for you. You aren’t a (math/English/science/history) person. Your brain isn’t wired to understand it. So why keep trying? Putting your energy into things that aren’t for you is a waste of time. Right?
Wrong. Believe it or not, this class that you seemingly can’t crack the code for is more accessible than you realize. Each person has a unique perspective, but that doesn’t erase the importance of having a broader one – an understanding of things beyond what we find comfortable. I know, I know what you’re thinking. There’s no way that I’ll have to understand Punnett squares to be a lawyer. Worrying about how important each class is to your future isn’t going to do any good, because it doesn’t erase the fact that you have to take them to graduate. The trick is to work through whatever is confusing you. But I’ve tried to work through it! The truth is, there might not be a quick, all-encompassing fix. If a certain class is challenging for you, it’s not necessarily guaranteed that one day it will all fall into place. You might need extra help or extra time occasionally. But that doesn’t mean you have to write it off immediately. Nothing is completely out of your grasp. The key to understanding the class is to change your mindset. It’s all about using your mind to control your reality, rather than letting it warp your perspective.
By sixth grade, I had concluded that I wasn’t “a math person.” I made this ill-informed decision in fourth grade while watching everyone around me zip through multiplication tables like lightning while I sat and tried to make my brain register the number “3.” I had nothing against people who could somehow understand the indecipherable language of numbers. However, I was (and still am) much more comfortable with words and books than I am with numbers and formulas. So, at eleven years old and about to start online school for the first time, I immediately wrote math off as a waste of time. “Just sit through forty-five minutes, ask for help on the homework, and be done with it” was my motto. And I felt pretty good about my stance.
I logged into that Zoom meeting with a pretty clear picture of how the class would be conducted. The teacher introduced herself and had us do a few icebreakers. When she began talking about the course outline for the year, I let words like ratios and fractions and numerical expressions float over my head like water over sand. Then my teacher said something that caught my attention.
“I’ve had a lot of people say to me, ‘I’m not a math person,’” she explained. I had to fight the urge to raise my hand (scratch that; I fought the urge to hit the ‘raise hand’ button – this was during the pandemic, after all). She went on to say, “There is no such thing as “a math person.” Nobody is designed specifically for one class and not for another. I hope that you all can come out of this class not necessarily as a math wizard, but with a new perspective on math. I want you to know that you can do and understand math without being a math person.” This statement struck me. Math, like any other subject, isn’t black and white. It isn’t You Get It or You Don’t Get It. It is simply You Have To Put In The Work To Understand It.
Oftentimes, when I’m working on something that feels out of my depth, I want to give up. But just as I’m about to tear up my homework and binge Netflix, I remind myself of what my teacher said in sixth grade, and I try again. As clichéd as it sounds, the only thing you can do when a subject confuses you is change how you think about it. It might not naturally “click,” and it might make you want to scream sometimes, but that doesn’t make your brain any less capable of understanding it. The only thing truly holding you back is the idea that you aren’t equipped to understand it. By realizing that you don’t have to be a master of math (or English, or whatever class is confusing you), but instead just have to put in the effort to do your best, you are saving yourself a whole lot of headaches.
Maybe you’re reading this because you’re supposed to be working on an English essay/math worksheet/post-lab assessment/history paper, but you just couldn’t understand it, so upon seeing the newspaper on the kitchen table, you grabbed it, even though the newspaper is only there because your parents read it before work in the morning, and you never even touch it. This is a sign to put the newspaper (or whatever procrastination device you have) down and apply yourself. This English essay/math worksheet/post-lab assessment/history paper probably feels impossible at this moment. But if you put in some time and effort and refrain from telling yourself you just aren’t the person for it, it just might feel a little more possible.