Mathematics is Serious

    I've been a lover of numbers since I was a kid, it was my dream to become a Math teacher one day. Some of the things that I noticed from transitioning from Grade School Math to High School Math was how different they were from each other. Because of the enjoyment I get while doing Math, I was pretty much sure that I would like to major in math someday and if possible go to a graduate school in mathematics which all I did.

    When I encountered Logic for the first time a few years back (college), I realized how useful it is in the world of mathematics. Logic is the study of how to critically think about propositions or statements that are either true or false. Mathematicians use logic all the time to prove theorems and other mathematical facts. Everything we know about math right now is based off of these logical proofs. Without these, we wouldn't have our formulas, like the quadratic formula or the Pythagorean Theorem. Honestly speaking, I thought that Math was just all about solving and finding the values of 'x' and  'y'. I never knew that it includes theorems, axioms, proving and many more. I recognized that mathematics is not linear, and does not progress in a fixed sequence. It branches out into many different areas. You can love one branch while hating another branch, thus, it is like having a love-hate relationship. I know for sure that others share this same feeling with me. 

    
    There came a point which my enthusiasm for undergrad math did not carry over into enthusiasm for graduate-level (or professional-level) math. It might be because of my full-time job as a college math instructor. I worked for the entire week (Monday - Sunday, no kidding!) and usually my class ends late at night (yes of course, my choice and my fault).  I have no extra time to learn and study the topics that my graduate class had covered. I was just an average student back then with a minimum passing grade. If I could brink back time, I would rather choose to unload most of my teaching loads so that I can focus more on my graduate class.  I’ve spent a great deal of time privately considering my own struggles in mathematics. I’ve exchanged stories with classmates from undergraduate and graduate school, with my workmates and sometimes one-on-one with students during office hours. 

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