Math
What do you consider your greatest academic achievement?
I thought long and hard about this question. I love academics. I earned an Associates degree from Salt Lake Community College in 2000.
Steve and I graduated together and received our diplomas from Elder Dallin H Oaks. Elder Oaks was the keynote speaker at graduation but he didn't hand out the diplomas. Part way through the awards he stood up, delivered about 10 diplomas and then sat back down. I'm not sure why we were so luck. It may have been because Steve was the President of the college institute but never-the-less, it was a thrill.
I graduated with Samantha from BYU in 2002 with a Bachelor's of English (Sam's degree was in History so she made me walk with the History department).
In 2005 I graduate from BYU with a Master's Degree in English.
I'm very proud of this accomplishment but the academic accomplishment I'm most proud of is passing math 105.
My math love/hate relationship began in Jr. High. I went to my 9th-grade math teacher, Mr. Bailey, to get some help because I was struggling in his Math class. He had the audacity to say, "Jill, you are a nice girl, and a pretty girl, but you're not a smart girl." AND I BELIEVED HIM! I started thinking then and there that I couldn't do math--I simply wasn't smart enough.
Fast forward almost 24 years. I went to one semester of college after I graduated from American Fork High School and then I quit to get married (way too young). When Samantha was in the third grade I was serving on the Riverton Elementary PTA. One day I was in Principal Tom Hicks' office and I noticed that he had my phone number on a piece of tape stuck to his desk. When I asked him about it, he replied, "You are the only mom I know who is home during the day and who doesn't have preschoolers." Then he continued with a statement that changed my life. "You should make yourself less available." And so I did.
I enrolled in an English class at Salt Lake Community College taught by Mary Cluff--and I LOVED it! With Johnny's support (and financial backing) I took one class a semester for the next several years. I loved my classes and I loved that I did my homework right along with my kids. I hope I was a good example and that they saw how much I value education.
Although graduation wasn't initially my goal, after a few years I started to see that I could actually earn a degree and I started getting excited until I realized that in order to graduate I had to pass Math 105--Algebra. I was in a quandary--what was I going to do? I wasn't smart enough to do Math. After days of soul-searching, I bit the bullet and went to the testing center to take the Math Placement Test. At SLCC you had to prove that you could handle Math 105 by passing a test; if you couldn't pass the test you had to take a preliminary (remedial) class (or classes) to prepare you for 105. There were a series of preliminary classes leading up to the all-important Math 105--none of which counted for credit. The series started with remedial Math 22, then basic Math 33, Math 95, Math 99, Math 100, and then--the only class that counted for credit--Math 105. The placement test was agony--I totally psyched myself out and bombed it royally. When my scores came back I was placed in. . . Math 33; five classes away from 105.
And so my five quarter journey to Math freedom began. I took Math 33, 95, and 99 from a wonderful Math instructor at the SLCC Sandy campus named Candice (I wish I remembered her last name because she was incredible). She taught basic Math principles in a way I understood and helped me see how each concept built upon the last--it's amazing the difference a great teacher can make. I've never worked so hard in my life. I studied my Math textbook several hours every day. I ate, slept, and played Math--Math was my life.
A year later I tackled pre-Algebra 100. My instructor's name was Cindy and she picked right up where Candice left off. She held out-of-class tutoring sessions for people wanting extra help and I never missed a one. As the final exam loomed nearer I stepped up the pace, haunting the math lab and studying from sun up to sun down. I felt prepared as I entered the final exam and confident when I exited. A week later grades posted and I'd earned an A. (Cindy later emailed me and told me that I was the only student in the entire college to ace the final--no mistakes!)
I'd like to report that I'm now a math wizard but that would be a lie. But I learned a valuable lesson on my math journey--a lesson that's served me well in my life. If you want something bad enough, and if you work at it hard enough, and long enough; if you don't give up you can usually accomplish that goal. My greatest academic accomplishment to date is passing Math 105! So there, Mr. Bailey!
I thought long and hard about this question. I love academics. I earned an Associates degree from Salt Lake Community College in 2000.
Steve and I graduated together and received our diplomas from Elder Dallin H Oaks. Elder Oaks was the keynote speaker at graduation but he didn't hand out the diplomas. Part way through the awards he stood up, delivered about 10 diplomas and then sat back down. I'm not sure why we were so luck. It may have been because Steve was the President of the college institute but never-the-less, it was a thrill.
I graduated with Samantha from BYU in 2002 with a Bachelor's of English (Sam's degree was in History so she made me walk with the History department).
In 2005 I graduate from BYU with a Master's Degree in English.
I'm very proud of this accomplishment but the academic accomplishment I'm most proud of is passing math 105.
My math love/hate relationship began in Jr. High. I went to my 9th-grade math teacher, Mr. Bailey, to get some help because I was struggling in his Math class. He had the audacity to say, "Jill, you are a nice girl, and a pretty girl, but you're not a smart girl." AND I BELIEVED HIM! I started thinking then and there that I couldn't do math--I simply wasn't smart enough.
Fast forward almost 24 years. I went to one semester of college after I graduated from American Fork High School and then I quit to get married (way too young). When Samantha was in the third grade I was serving on the Riverton Elementary PTA. One day I was in Principal Tom Hicks' office and I noticed that he had my phone number on a piece of tape stuck to his desk. When I asked him about it, he replied, "You are the only mom I know who is home during the day and who doesn't have preschoolers." Then he continued with a statement that changed my life. "You should make yourself less available." And so I did.
I enrolled in an English class at Salt Lake Community College taught by Mary Cluff--and I LOVED it! With Johnny's support (and financial backing) I took one class a semester for the next several years. I loved my classes and I loved that I did my homework right along with my kids. I hope I was a good example and that they saw how much I value education.
Although graduation wasn't initially my goal, after a few years I started to see that I could actually earn a degree and I started getting excited until I realized that in order to graduate I had to pass Math 105--Algebra. I was in a quandary--what was I going to do? I wasn't smart enough to do Math. After days of soul-searching, I bit the bullet and went to the testing center to take the Math Placement Test. At SLCC you had to prove that you could handle Math 105 by passing a test; if you couldn't pass the test you had to take a preliminary (remedial) class (or classes) to prepare you for 105. There were a series of preliminary classes leading up to the all-important Math 105--none of which counted for credit. The series started with remedial Math 22, then basic Math 33, Math 95, Math 99, Math 100, and then--the only class that counted for credit--Math 105. The placement test was agony--I totally psyched myself out and bombed it royally. When my scores came back I was placed in. . . Math 33; five classes away from 105.
And so my five quarter journey to Math freedom began. I took Math 33, 95, and 99 from a wonderful Math instructor at the SLCC Sandy campus named Candice (I wish I remembered her last name because she was incredible). She taught basic Math principles in a way I understood and helped me see how each concept built upon the last--it's amazing the difference a great teacher can make. I've never worked so hard in my life. I studied my Math textbook several hours every day. I ate, slept, and played Math--Math was my life.
A year later I tackled pre-Algebra 100. My instructor's name was Cindy and she picked right up where Candice left off. She held out-of-class tutoring sessions for people wanting extra help and I never missed a one. As the final exam loomed nearer I stepped up the pace, haunting the math lab and studying from sun up to sun down. I felt prepared as I entered the final exam and confident when I exited. A week later grades posted and I'd earned an A. (Cindy later emailed me and told me that I was the only student in the entire college to ace the final--no mistakes!)
I'd like to report that I'm now a math wizard but that would be a lie. But I learned a valuable lesson on my math journey--a lesson that's served me well in my life. If you want something bad enough, and if you work at it hard enough, and long enough; if you don't give up you can usually accomplish that goal. My greatest academic accomplishment to date is passing Math 105! So there, Mr. Bailey!
Comments