Personal Narrative: A Career In Pre-Calculus

Of the 75% of students who graduate high school and finish their required 13 years of schooling, I believe that I have taken it to the next level. Looking back at my past years of schooling, I see a lot of moments where I excelled and that I can be proud of and yet, hidden deep in the files of my educational life, I can see moments where I messed up. Only later on did I recognize that I could have done better. One such moment occurred recently, in junior year, when I almost failed Pre-Calculus. Academically, I have always been strong. Teacher assigns an essay on the symbolic values of the color green? No problem. Physics lab report due the next day? I’ll get it done. Using scalar multiplication to do something strange to vectors? Might take some blood, sweat and tears. This became a huge problem in Pre-Calculus. Math has always been hard from me and once the alphabet snuck its way in with the numbers, everything became so much more difficult. I experienced math without numbers and triangles of whom had more secrets than a spy. I hardly understood what I was doing. It was like walking through a dark maze with a small pen light. Math just didn’t click with me well. I tried and tried to understand it, spent long hours studying, lunches with my math teacher and my free time re-reading the chapters.
Once I set my mind on something, I’ll work at it until I get it, whether it be a new gadget or a grade in a class. I’m passionate about my future and I want to succeed in order to benefit myself, the people around me and my community. These things about me are what I consider to be some of my most important personal qualities. For some, Math may not have been a deciding factor in their life, but it was definitely my make or break it moment. As Tim Gunn would say, “It’s your make it work moment, so make it work.” It may have taken me longer than usual, but I am fixing my mistakes and that is something I am proud