This past winter I conquered one of my math-related fears. Fitting sewing patterns had caused me many, many headaches in the past. It was something I thought I would never understand. But after Christmas I proved myself wrong and drafted my own pattern... entirely from measurements.
That's a lot of numbers! That's a lot of directions-following, a lot of steps and calculations and complications! That's not creative or artsy! I'm not that kind of person, and I hate math, so I shouldn't be able to do that. Or should I?
The Old Me
One way I used to define myself was, "I'm not a math person." During my 10+ years of formal schooling, I loved the subjects of reading and writing, and despised the subject of math. It sometimes took hours for me to finish the problems correctly, though many of those hours were spent staring out the window wishing I were somewhere else. Algebra was the worst. By the time a test came along I had already forgotten the techniques I had learned in the weeks before. Math brought me no joy and no reward. It made me feel stupid. During these years I bought into the common polarizing lie that you are either an "art" person or a "math" person... and I was not a math person.
I am not the only lady out there who has told herself that. In fact, I know a girl who insisted that she had a "math disability". But I think it's a bad habit to shut ourselves off to potential skills. We should resist being boxed in by bad experiences and what society tells us. We need to tell ourselves the truth: I never had a reason to like math. I am afraid to try anything with numbers because of all the times I messed up in school.
A New Page
Now that I'm out of school, I'm learning that I really am a "numbers person". I love science and math in their practical applications. Math is not about memorizing methods and getting good test scores. Today math is about inches, ounces, kilometers, degrees ferenheit, and dollars. Math is tempering chocolate so it "snaps", planning a garden, using a chop saw or drafting a well-fit sewing pattern. My goodness, math is the difference between being rich or being broke.
What about you? Have you told yourself "I will never be able to do that; I am not that kind of person." We all have the ability to be math people or creative people, foodies or workaholics or people-persons or criminals to some degree. It's all in what we believe, largely influenced by what we hear from others and what we tell ourselves.
So stop telling yourself you're not a math person.
Happy calculating!
-Bethany
That's a lot of numbers! That's a lot of directions-following, a lot of steps and calculations and complications! That's not creative or artsy! I'm not that kind of person, and I hate math, so I shouldn't be able to do that. Or should I?
The Old Me
One way I used to define myself was, "I'm not a math person." During my 10+ years of formal schooling, I loved the subjects of reading and writing, and despised the subject of math. It sometimes took hours for me to finish the problems correctly, though many of those hours were spent staring out the window wishing I were somewhere else. Algebra was the worst. By the time a test came along I had already forgotten the techniques I had learned in the weeks before. Math brought me no joy and no reward. It made me feel stupid. During these years I bought into the common polarizing lie that you are either an "art" person or a "math" person... and I was not a math person.
I am not the only lady out there who has told herself that. In fact, I know a girl who insisted that she had a "math disability". But I think it's a bad habit to shut ourselves off to potential skills. We should resist being boxed in by bad experiences and what society tells us. We need to tell ourselves the truth: I never had a reason to like math. I am afraid to try anything with numbers because of all the times I messed up in school.
A New Page
Now that I'm out of school, I'm learning that I really am a "numbers person". I love science and math in their practical applications. Math is not about memorizing methods and getting good test scores. Today math is about inches, ounces, kilometers, degrees ferenheit, and dollars. Math is tempering chocolate so it "snaps", planning a garden, using a chop saw or drafting a well-fit sewing pattern. My goodness, math is the difference between being rich or being broke.
What about you? Have you told yourself "I will never be able to do that; I am not that kind of person." We all have the ability to be math people or creative people, foodies or workaholics or people-persons or criminals to some degree. It's all in what we believe, largely influenced by what we hear from others and what we tell ourselves.
So stop telling yourself you're not a math person.
Happy calculating!
-Bethany
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