My greatest fear about going back to school was math; will I be able to do it? It’s been so long, and I was always bad in math; it just never clicked with me. It takes me forever to understand the more complicated math concepts, and even then, it doesn't really make that much sense to me.
So I was worried. About the entry test. And about failing. I had forgotten most of my high school math, or even worse, some of it I never understood in the first place.
But it wasn’t that bad. I bought a book and studied for the entry exam, and somehow managed to understand enough to pass it. And then I took the Math 100 class, to refresh my knowledge. And I got a lot of help. The class was entirely taught on the computer, and at first I thought that was weird, no teacher standing in front of us, teaching the whole class? But, it was perfect. Because I could work at my own pace, work through the tutorials; watch them as often as I wanted. There were exercises, where they showed step by step how to do it. I didn't have to feel stupid, because I took longer to understand than other students. I could watch a tutorial several times if I needed to. And I could review the exercises I did three weeks ago, if I forgot how to do it. Learning math suddenly seemed possible.
Sullivan also offers a free tutoring center, but I didn't even have to use it. But it is reassuring to know that I could if I needed to.
Now I am in Math 101, and this time we have a "real" classroom situation. But we also have the computer help that came with our book. I have used it several times when I got stuck on my homework. There’s this awesome link on there "help me solve this", where they walk you through your homework, and there are also test prep exercises, which I have used to study.
Last month I bought a graphing calculator (used on amazon, the best $40 I spent this quarter), anything that will help me get through this, and help me get over my math fear. Because really, it's mostly my own fear that's holding me back. It's not that I can't do math, it's that I think I can't. When I was in high school (back in the old days, when we didn't have cell phones, or iPads, and believe it or not, no computer labs yet!) I couldn't have imagined those graphing calculators, or even being allowed to use one! Today I had a math test, and I used my graphing calculator as my little security blanket. And guess what, I made a mistake when I graphed something on paper, and I found the mistake by double checking with my calculator. Fantastic! I know it sounds awfully nerdy, but it helps. It helps build my confidence, and I know now that I can get through math, and get good grades, and not just barely pass it, because there is help out there. We just need to ask for it and be willing to invest some time. Sullivan offers a lot of additional help to students, with the free tutoring and the Plus Fridays. If someone is thinking they can't go back to school because they are afraid of math, let me tell you, you can do it! I can.
Claudia
