“Math is hard!� – Teen Speak Barbie circa 1994

Every time I complain about math, my dad always says something like, “Ok Barbie.� Not to be a whiny girl or anything, but math just isn’t my forte. I took Math 150 last autumn and it was…ok. As long as I went to lecture, I pretty much understood what was going on. However, that was mostly because I had taken pre-calc. in high school and most of it was just review. I find myself a year later in the clutches of Math 151: Calculus and Analytical Geometry gasping for air. I was literally losing sleep last night over how much I have no idea what’s going on in that class already and about how much work I have every freaking night. Between the webwork and hand-in assignments, I am swamped every night. Last night, in frustration, I decided that I can’t do it alone anymore. Math 151 would surely be the death of me if kept pretending like I knew what was going on. Now I’m not the kind of student that sticks around after class with questions. I’ve never even been to a professors’ office hours. But I always told myself that if I ever really needed help in a class, I’d go look for it. Well, here was the golden opportunity. So I researched some of my possibilities for getting help.

Turns out there are a ton of kids struggling in math all the time. So much so that there is an entire tutoring center for math and statistics, aptly named the Math and Statistics Learning Center (MSLC) at Cockins Hall. They have tutoring rooms for each math and stats course open for most of the day where you can go in with questions or just to work on homework in a healthy environment. I woke up early and summoned the courage to trot on down to the Math 151 room with my questions. Not shockingly, there were a few others with the same problems as me. With the help of the professor on duty, I was able to unscramble some really basic concepts, and I was only there for about half an hour. I shall definitely be returning.

Also, the MSLC holds workshops and review sessions for the webwork and for general topics like “Limits and Continuity.� This afternoon I went to a webwork workshop for the problems that are due this evening. Basically all I did today was math. But I really got it; that was the best part. I didn’t even dread coming home and finishing up all the work I have due this week. Call me a dork, but I even went ahead and did the next three assignments and got a 100% on the next set of webwork problems.

I feel about a thousand percent better than I did at this time yesterday. And it’s all because I admitted my weakness and sought help. And I’m so so so not alone. The moral of the story is: Don’t feel stupid asking for help/ utilizing all the resources this university has to offer. That’s what you’re paying for anyways.

So yes Barbie, while math may be hard, don’t forget your other catch phrase: Anything is possible!

GO BUCKS!