so many aspects of this article echo my own experiences, though i was likely a far worse example of a student than the author of this article. i excelled at literature (and took this talent for granted) and i had a vicious disdain for math. my time in high school was spent anticipating a “mathless” career in the NHL that never quite came to fruition… sometimes you just don’t grow any taller after your freshmen year :)
here’s how a gift can actually be a curse: i’ve always had an extremely strong visual memory and it enabled me to get by (and sometimes even excel) at courses like algebra and pre-calc. i’d simply memorize the exact structure of a solution, and “plug and play” from memory when teacher asked identical questions on exams with different numbers. it wasn’t until i was an undergrad and i decided to do my own “rewiring” experiment that i realized i hadn’t ever learned a thing about math my entire academic career. it made for quite the rude awakening, being that i was a college sophomore who’d just switched from pre-med biology to electrical engineering!
i struggled with basic problems that required even a little bit of mathematical intuition because i’d never developed an intuitive understanding of anything–to paraphrase bart simpson, it was like i was cheating on tests by using my own mind, since i could remember my notes with such vivid detail.
how’d i fix it? i became a voracious reader. i started reading “popular” science books about math that actually interested me, and i realized that textbooks were only part of the puzzle. once i was able to grasp the theoretical concepts (aided by the “pop” books) i could return to the textbooks without being bored to tears with the dry, abstract concepts–i could actually relate the concepts to reality! i also took a keen interest in physics because it connected calculus to the real world. when i realized that a parabola could actually be the path of a cannon ball, it changed my entire outlook on math. things started to click.
so how’d it work out? getting through b.s. degrees in both electrical and biomedical engineering (i was a masochist and picked up a second degree) was nonetheless a struggle, due to the fact i was essentially several years behind my peers in terms of my mathematical ability. also, i constantly had to fight the urge to rely on my memory. old habits die hard or simply just go into remission, but i made it!
where am i now? as an MBA student (please bear with me here) i was fortunate enough to be at a university that recently embraced data science. i fell in love with the field because data can tell a story, and my (now) strong mathematical background enabled me to grasp the underlying math & algorithms that yield the wonderful insights you can uncover if you look in the right places.
was it worth it? absolutely. i feel as though i am a different person that’s capable of using both sides of their brain! although i must admit i’m still a natural “right brainer” and i need to use a calculator more frequently than i’d like to admit. i’m an engineering manager at a 9-5, i work as a data science lead for a startup, and i dabble with inventing products. i’m convinced that had i not put myself through the wonderful torture that was rewiring my brain, i’d likely not have achieved a single thing in my career.
if you’re really curious to see how someone like me thinks i’ve done some writing here: www.takeiteasythursday.com/liox