- #36
Mark Harder
- 246
- 60
Tyrion,
Have other people in your life told you that you're no good at math? Or is that your own evaluation? I know that many teachers will go out of their way to convince women that they can't do math, simply because they're women. Which is totally false and unjust. You need encouragement and assistance. Have you tried hiring a tutor? Perhaps some individual attention will help you remove the mental barriers between you and the study of mathematics.
Another point. You don't say how well you perform in other subjects. Logical and critical thinking abilities are extremely important in all field of intellectual work. Even computer programming is more about logic than the usual mathematical skills like calculus and differential equations. All sorts of upper-level high school work and college courses, including those that teach languages and cultures, including literature in other languages are open to you. Take one example I have 3 old college friends who majored in "International Relations", and not one of them directly works in international relations. One is a managing editor of a major US newspaper, the other 2 are corporate lawyers. How does that work? The international relations degree can be obtained by studying a wide array of course choices, literature, economics, geography, politics of course, history, foreign languages and literature, sociology and on and on. You can choose courses in the things you love, for one thing. What they learned in all these courses is a.) how to recognize patterns in data and thoughts and b.) how to think logically and critically. I have to confess that these 3 have been far more successful (in terms of income and position in their fields) than I have been in my scientific career. Unlike scientists, who must compete with the whole world for jobs and resources, lawyers have sort of job security that comes from doing work that can only be done in a specific society. I wouldn't trade places, mind you. I went into the sciences out of passion, not a desire for a 6-figure income. Law is but one example of a career where bright people can excel. There are many others. Keep an open mind. You don't need to have a career path in mind when you enter college. Let your curiosity guide you. But first, you have to get out of the slough of despond and think creatively and relax a bit.
Have other people in your life told you that you're no good at math? Or is that your own evaluation? I know that many teachers will go out of their way to convince women that they can't do math, simply because they're women. Which is totally false and unjust. You need encouragement and assistance. Have you tried hiring a tutor? Perhaps some individual attention will help you remove the mental barriers between you and the study of mathematics.
Another point. You don't say how well you perform in other subjects. Logical and critical thinking abilities are extremely important in all field of intellectual work. Even computer programming is more about logic than the usual mathematical skills like calculus and differential equations. All sorts of upper-level high school work and college courses, including those that teach languages and cultures, including literature in other languages are open to you. Take one example I have 3 old college friends who majored in "International Relations", and not one of them directly works in international relations. One is a managing editor of a major US newspaper, the other 2 are corporate lawyers. How does that work? The international relations degree can be obtained by studying a wide array of course choices, literature, economics, geography, politics of course, history, foreign languages and literature, sociology and on and on. You can choose courses in the things you love, for one thing. What they learned in all these courses is a.) how to recognize patterns in data and thoughts and b.) how to think logically and critically. I have to confess that these 3 have been far more successful (in terms of income and position in their fields) than I have been in my scientific career. Unlike scientists, who must compete with the whole world for jobs and resources, lawyers have sort of job security that comes from doing work that can only be done in a specific society. I wouldn't trade places, mind you. I went into the sciences out of passion, not a desire for a 6-figure income. Law is but one example of a career where bright people can excel. There are many others. Keep an open mind. You don't need to have a career path in mind when you enter college. Let your curiosity guide you. But first, you have to get out of the slough of despond and think creatively and relax a bit.