Loving Math

Math and I go way back. Like, all the way back to elementary school. Kindergarten even. Now, my first love was reading. I taught myself how to read when I was 3 because I was jealous of all the books my brother (who was in elementary school, learning to read) was getting. I would stay up all night with a flash light reading in my bedroom. I was happy on the few occasions I was grounded, because it meant I could read uninterrupted for hours!
In middle school, I was placed on the advanced track for math classes (which means I took a pre-Algebra course, Algebra 1, and then Geometry). I was doing fine, but mostly because my best friend was, and still is, a math genius, and she never failed to help me learn the material. Then, in high school, the only option was to go up. Thus, I took Algebra 2, Precalculus, Calculus 1, and Calculus 2. I threw in AP Statistics, too, because at this point I was bound and determined to never take math again after high school. My math confidence was still pretty low when I came to high school. Sophomore through senior year, I had the same wonderful math teacher. She basically told me that I could do math, all on my own even, no help needed from my best friend. And she was right. Why had it taken me so long to realize that?

This article posted by one of my math professors helped me to understand why I feel the way I do about math. Slate's article on hidden sexism in the math and science fields discusses how those who teach can truly affect their students' futures. It combines everything I love: math, education, and a little Desperate Housewives! I was lucky that I had female math teachers every year until I reached college. According to the article, that means that I had the correct support to feel comfortable being a math "person." Vedantam, the author, states

"Our reasons for feeling suited to particular professions are only partially—and perhaps tangentially—tied to our interests, determination, and talent. More than three decades ago, psychotherapists at Georgia State University studied why some women, by all objective measures bright and talented, believed they were less gifted than they were. No matter the evidence, they believed they were impostors."

I find myself feeling this way even now. I wonder if it is because I am now in a male-dominated environment. Our math department does have a good balance of male and female students, most certainly, but we are still off-balance in regards to faculty. How does this affect my education? This article brings up some good points that help me to see where I can take control of how I feel about math as well as how I feel about my performance.