When I was younger I always thought school should get easier since my thinking was the older you get the more you know and the easier it is to understand stuff. Thinking about it now, shouldn’t school challenge you to improve so the harder you think it is the harder you’re challenging yourself.  I always struggled in any type of Mathematics and a lot of people do. Over the past years in school learning Mathematics, I’ve heard a lot of teachers tell me that you have to practice to eventually get the rhythm of doing mathematics problems. I remember in middle school struggling to understand how to do algebra, so many steps, where do they even come from? Never asked questions because I always wanted to figure it out by myself. Not having the courage to ask for help when I needed it just turned into sleepiness nights, stressing watching YouTube videos at midnight turning to figure out and understand how to do homework. 

You discover a lot about yourself in high school. You meet new people and have the chance to have forever lifelong friendships or not. You have the chance to interact with eminent educators who could end up being your largest mentors and provide you with direction for the future. I’ve discovered throughout my time in high school that my time there laid the groundwork for my morals and work ethic. Because you need that to try to be the most successful person, it’s crucial to strive to be the most successful person. I try to tell myself this when I’m having trouble understanding something. Finding out who you are, what you’re capable of, and what you want to be as a young adult in the workplace or a college student was supposed to happen during high school. We all have this mindset where we think that we have to have our whole life plan done when we’re done with high school. Beginning of my senior year, I had an overwhelming dislike for one subject in school, specifically maths. I vividly remember those days. Every day that went by was difficult. As the years passed, maths didn’t stop bothering me. I went through algebra three or four times but still couldn’t grasp it. Eventually, I graduated because I wanted to move with my life and couldn’t stay in high school indefinitely for the sole reason of algebra.  

Working together as a society of learners, we struggle, fail, and keep trying. I’ve experienced my fair share of failures, but I’m confident that I never let them place my chances on myself. I found myself having trouble in my Algebra 2 lesson last year. I really didn’t enjoy maths in the slightest, therefore I preferred not to attempt it. Each assignment and test was something I dreaded since it affected my confidence and outlook. I would become frustrated because I couldn’t understand it and it was unintelligible to me. I received a disappointing 65 at the very end of that semester. The grade didn’t reflect my work ethic or who I was, and I knew in my heart that I could perform better. I was committed to myself that I would sign up for tutoring with Ms.Detelich for students who needed to prove their overall grades for the semester but were falling behind in class. This encouraged me to challenge myself and have dedication.  

“Ni de aqui, ni de alla” Is a phrase I would also relate to, not in the sense I don’t anywhere but in the sense I also felt stuck in the middle when it came to maths. I didn’t understand the problem solving questions nor did I understand the steps to get the problem done. A lot of people relate to this phrase as bilingual and bicultural to describe their different identities of being American and being an immigrant and that’s how I feel when it comes to maths, feeling stuck between the line and everybody else is in their positions and ready to follow through and I’m still trying to understand where my line is and where I’m standing. Although Jose Olivarez talks and writes about this phrase in his article in a different matter, I can relate to the feeling of not fitting anywhere or not belonging anywhere. 

I could barely understand anything. Ms.Detelich made it hard for me to understand what she was trying to get across, she herself would get confused sometimes on what she was trying to explain. I would say my test scores were going up little by little, I was seeing improvement. I would try to demonstrate my approach to problem- solving, which undoubtedly improved both my confidence and my approach with public speaking. Tutoring not only improved my maths skills but also gave me the chance to collaborate and engage with new people, teaching me how to take into account the talents and shortcomings of others. I had to get outside of my comfort zone and learn to think creatively. These are certainly some useful abilities that this experience has enabled me to strengthen.

I consider myself really fortunate to have been given this chance, as it allowed me to grow professionally and personally. Over the course of the remaining years of my education, I grew more and more focused. This chase pushed me to become more open-minded and helped me understand some mathematical concepts on a deeper level.I learned new techniques and new ways to study for exams. Now I’m not saying I don’t struggle anymore, you should struggle in order to challenge yourself in school. 

My point is that trying hard things often involves failing, possibly a lot. Being diligent in a school course, like maths, might be considered doing challenging tasks. These things don’t necessarily have to be spectacular or attractive. Being faithful to endure small things that don’t seem to make a difference is more important than trying to change the world by doing difficult things. I used to become discouraged because I would sit home and struggle through another maths lesson, never seeing any results for my labors and always failing, while it appeared like so many revolutionaries were doing all these wonderful and magnificent things. However, looking back, I can see that it was yet another challenge I overcame in life, and for that I am appreciative. Putting up the effort to complete my maths may not alter the world, but perseverance can.