When I talked to Jean Kelley about Scarborough Middle School’s math team I began to think about my own experiences with the subject. In the article (see page BLANK) people used words such as “fun” and “blast” to describe math.
     I wish I could have used those words – I wish I could still use those words – when I talk about math. In middle and high school I wasn’t one of the brightest math students. I struggled, as generations of students always have with the subject.
     I thought it was just wrong that letters ever made their way into an equation. Letters were for writing, a subject I understood and liked.
     When I went to college all I had to do was pass college algebra and then I would never, ever (thank God) have to take another math class in my life. Easy, right? Not really.
     I took the class every semester for two years. I dropped it before each semester ended. I went to a private women’s college so by the end of those two years every math teacher had me in one of their classes. I’m also pretty sure none of them thought I would ever pass it.
     I know for certain that one teacher didn’t think I would pass the class. Time got away from me and it was my final semester at the school. My teacher Mr. Sykes told me it was too late to bring up my grade. This meant that I wouldn’t be able to graduate with my classmates.
     What scared me the most was that I had 10 family members who had already bought their tickets to fly to Missouri and see my graduation ceremony. I still have nightmares about it.
     I didn’t ask Sykes for help, instead I went to my school’s academic center, teary eyed and tail between my legs, looking for a way to work this out. I had about a month and a half to bring my grade up. Every morning at 6 a.m. I trudged along to the academic center and watched videotapes that went with my textbook chapters.
     Day in, day out, I did math. I also found out there was another girl in my class who was on the cusp of graduating no thanks to college algebra. We studied together and were terrified together.
     I scored a 90 percent on the first test I took after vowing myself to a life of math. Why couldn’t I have done this before? I guess sometimes people need a good dose of fear to get things done – or in my case, the fear of what my mother was going to say if she found out I wasn’t going to graduate.
     She didn’t even know what I was on the edge of, but mothers don’t have to know in order for you to be scared out of your wits.
     I passed the class but my friend didn’t. I saw her parents on campus the weekend of our graduation and I felt awful but also breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t me in her situation.
     It’s because of my math experiences that I totally respect the Scarborough Middle School math team. They have a grasp on this at a young age, which I think is a pretty strong guarantee they’re never going to end up in a position like I was in.