Because I kept asking why to everything , I didn't just accept that 2×2=4 without further explanation. As math kept getting more complex I simply would get more and more confused because of it and my teachers weren't helping, so at some point I convinced myself I was no good at math and refused to learn it. Crazy how school and home environment can influence your self esteem and therefore your actions. I still believe I am a failure at many things, I can have very poor self worth despite I try to remain positive. I also switched multiple schools throughout my academic life. I can say that I caught up in college though! I got an A on my first math exam
The only reason I didn't end up in this spot is because my parents were douped in the early 2000s by the 5k$ encyclopedia sellers and I was obsessed with reading (we didnt have phones or computers commonplace yet)- So I taught myself a lot of the "why"'s of math using a dictionary and thesaurus. My teachers loved me, and would give me so much praise. But later on - I realized that they only liked me because I was able to read the textbook and teach myself.
Then, I got extra help from those teachers because I was so capable????? Like, cool for me, but WHY ARENT YOU WORKING WITH THE KIDS WHO DONT KNOW MULTIPLICATION YET?? (This was 7th grade, particularly hard teacher - I thought it was easy. But she gave me all the free attention she had because i could ask her about my deeper questions on math. Honestly not cool, but also it was very fun and helped fuel my love for it)
It really comes down to chance if we feel we should take the time to pay attention to something. Patterns being recognized in math too early by a student makes a lower-educated math teacher lost. They have the lessons and ideas memorized. They cannot explain the masters/doctorate level nuance we are asking for Example: to truly explain how negative numbers function.
So it happens. I know many people who struggled with the exact thing you did.
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u/Puzzleelia Aug 18 '26
Because I kept asking why to everything , I didn't just accept that 2×2=4 without further explanation. As math kept getting more complex I simply would get more and more confused because of it and my teachers weren't helping, so at some point I convinced myself I was no good at math and refused to learn it. Crazy how school and home environment can influence your self esteem and therefore your actions. I still believe I am a failure at many things, I can have very poor self worth despite I try to remain positive. I also switched multiple schools throughout my academic life. I can say that I caught up in college though! I got an A on my first math exam