I'm sitting in a restaurant with a grilled cheese and roasted tomato sandwich and some great coffee. I'm in a university area among people who are obviously academic, perhaps geniuses, or business whizzes working on their start-ups. I'm writing on a piece of paper. I'll type this as a blog post later. Later is now.
Academic is not how I'm feeling now. I dropped my little MBA class that just started, after a major, MAJ, anxiety attack. I couldn't even attempt one of the homework problems. It was algebraic.
Algebra takes me back to 7th grade where I had suddenly fallen from advanced math classes to a bad student with a D in algebra. After middle school I managed to dodge math classes for the rest of my life.
Until now.
I can't continue in my MBA at this school without understanding how to solve for X.
So, if Laura has $50 to invest in a security that pays 8% after 8 years, but she instead spends the $50 on a new bag on 70% clearance then rationalizes that she also has enough money to go out and buy oysters Rockefeller and a bottle of great wine and x = the amount of hours spent banging head against desk, how big is the pickle in my sandwich basket?
After extracting myself from the class, with some embarassment for feeling like an asshat, I've done the really crazy thing and enrolled in basic algebra at a community college. It's online so no one will see my tears of frustration.
I also have Danica Patrick McKellar's books which are appropriately geared for the middle school girl.
I don't know if any of this really matters in life but I'm gonna make it work.
I'VE GOT A PICKLE FOR YOU
Posted by: SALTY D | 08 September 2011 at 04:58 PM
...Annnd this is why my Master's is in liberal arts. No fucking math classes. ((shudder))
Like you, I have successfully avoided them since Algebra II save for the "Mathematics for Consumer Economics" class I took junior year. It taught me how to calculate sale prices and balance a checkbook, two skills I excel at to this day. I daresay the Calculus geeks aren't finding the value of X very often.
It's funny because I took 5 AP classes (gov, econ, English, art history, world history) in high school but yet avoided any "real" math classes.
My mom does math problems for FUN (freak) and always tried to help me with my homework. We both remember me sobbing, breaking pencils, and yelling, "If they are imaginary numbers, they don't really exist. Why are we worrying about them???"
Math makes my brain hurt.
Posted by: lg | 08 September 2011 at 08:22 PM
Much love for Salty and his pickle.
Much love for you, too, B. No asshattery.
Posted by: KtP | 09 September 2011 at 12:20 AM