My original plan was to post "normal stuff" intermingled with my 'Goals of 2009' stuff, but Logankstewart has compelled me to divert a bit. So, I am here today to answer the burning question of the ages: Why is 'Learning Calculus' on my Goals of 2009 list? Here's my gut-wrenching story...
I was an ambitious youth, and eagerly propelled myself to bigger and more challenging coursework in school. I took Algebra in 7th grade when others in my small town were doing general math, and I took geometry in 8th. In high school, I was the only freshman in my Algebra II class, and I succeeded in convincing the head of the math department to let me skip Trig or Pre-Calc and jumping straight into Calculus I as a sophmore. Where do I go from here? Community college. I took Calculus II and Calculus III during my last two years of high school, and the school district footed the bill. What a bright, shining little star I was!
But I had a dark secret. Although I was ambitious, I was also an extremely lazy son of a gun, and rarely (if ever) did homework. There was always tomorrow, or next week, or next semester to crack the books. I barely scraped by with a C in Calc I, and my Calc II grade weighed in at a D. And for Calc III, the grand-daddy of 'em all, I landed a nice, prongy E. In that last class, I would literally drive to school and sit in the parking lot, because I knew that if I went in I'd have to face the professor. What an arrogant little kid, showing up to take college classes (paid for by the school district), and he doesn't have respect enough to put in a little effort. To think I chose all that pain over the pain of doing a little homework...
This lack of discipline pervaded my entire high school career. My sister, with a severe learning disability, graduated with a higher GPA than I did. I laughed secretly at her General Math class her senior year, but at least she passed. Now she's a nurse. She's a true champion.
Oh, and I also missed the deadline for my Federal Aid application for college loans, and my 2.97 GPA certainly didn't land me any scholarships (plus, to get scholarships, you typically have to apply at a college. I hadn't done any of that, either). What to do then? I joined the Navy.
So, why do I want to learn Calculus in 2009? I feel like I owe it to myself, my parents and a lot of other people who put their trust in me, to somehow make up for my past wrong-doings. Because of their effort and support, I should know calculus right now. If I hadn't been such a lazy little deadbeat back then, I'd know calculus right now. So I'm going to fix that. I suspect the blood, sweat and tears of this journey will be cathartic. It had better be.
-Sailor Matt
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Good work, Sailor Mattie!
Best of luck to ya.
A good text to pick up on the subject is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calculus. I know there's one of those books for everything, but I bought the one for algebra back in high school and it taught me more in a week than in a semester of classes.
Have a flick through it at a bookshop or somewhere, because I'd swear by those particular how-to guides, that it'll put everything in simplified terms and explain every step of the process, from basic to expert.
Again, best of luck, because fractional calculus will still be painful.
Heh.
Glad to have motivated someone to do something. Good luck with the calc and the EE classes. I hope you enjoy circuits much more than I did.
Enjoy circuits? I love circuits! The Navy trained me in basic and advanced electronic theory, and I spent the last ten years testing and repairing electronic equipment. I just have to formalize my training with college classes, and that takes time (which I dread)...
@Cap'n Joe: Thanks for the luck wishes, man. I haven't tried the Idiot's Guides yet, but I've always enjoyed the For Dummies books. In fact, I have the C++ For Dummies and SQL For Dummies sitting on my floor right now (complements of the local library).
Good for you!! With that kind of spirit, you'll ace calculus this time! It sounds to me like the navy taught you a great deal about how hard work can gain you knowledge and enhance your life. With friends like Joe and logankstewart to give you advice, you'll do just fine.
Ancient Reader
Thank you for your kind words. The friendships made here were the inspiration behind my 2009 goals. I feel a stronger sense of accountability when posting to the world and opening my life to commentation.
Calculus, is that the build up of white stuff after you drink a lot of milk?
WV: auslikin, people who like all things Australian.
PS, I found the ultimate job. If you fancy applying, go to www.islandreefjob.com. You spend 6 months on an island by yourself taking photos and videos. You also have to write a daily blog. Your pay for the 6 months is £75,000, that's about 3 zillion American dollars I believe!
Sailor Matt -
Welcome to the club of gEEks! (I've always said, "You couldn't even spell geek without EE.") Let's just say, for me, I didn't understand calculus until I started applying it in engineering classes. Just be careful, the chicks go wild for engineers. Your wife could get jealous. :)
Good luck on the resolutions.
wv:soberout - I've partied too much in life, it's time for me to soberout.
Thanks, Fe203. Love the word verification, too. I'll have to share that gEEks tidbit with some of my EE friends :)
Post a Comment