In Real Analysis The Struggle Is Real

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    Last 2014 I took Real Analysis with Professor Jonald Fenecios, he prepared spectacular notes, had a real passion for the material, and I was fortunate to have a wonderful professor for that class. I could not be happier that I decided to take the course that honestly was challenging, downright intimidating, and overbearing at times. The material was based on one-variable calculus and the focus of the class was to teach you how to write proofs and not necessarily focus on the actual calculus material as being difficult (the class was difficult as I thought it would be lol).

    I was used to being able to easily grasp things without much practice, but this class was a whole monster by itself. I needed to learn not only techniques, but I had to learn the new notations, the difference between evaluating and proving. I have about three notebooks worth of me going through practice problems using the various techniques we used (btw, I still have it!). I didn't have a deep understanding of it until later although I didn't realize it. When I went over it again, then I really understood not the notation but the meaning of what we're doing, and that's when I started to really love it. 

    At the time I found it really tricky, it was unlike anything I had done before. I did enjoy parts of it though and I still really appreciate the way it gets you thinking about being rigorous and exact in how you explain yourself. I felt like I knew what was going on but it was very easy to loose marks by being sloppy. When we discussed about epsilon-delta limit/continuity, I didn't get it for a week or so but then it suddenly clicked and made perfect sense. 

    By the end, when I was reviewing for the final, it was honestly humbling to look back at all my failures of somewhat proofs compared to how much they improved by the end. I would be forever thankful to my amazing professor for being so patient and understanding in our classes. Not only in Real Analysis but most of my undergrad math subjects and I really like his teaching style. A great professor makes all the difference.

    I can see how everything is related to everything and so I can start seeing the bigger picture, but there are so many gaps in there, and so I have much more to learn. To sum up, real analysis is definitely one of the hardest experiences of my academic life, but it made me the who I am today.
| BS in Math | MS in Applied Math (30-units earned) | MS in Pure and Applied Math (Thesis still on progress) | Full-time Private Tutor | Online Math Instructor |

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