It's like that everywhere, but here it goes : it was fucking horrible and left me scarred. I have nothing but pure, burning hatred for all of this.
I wasn't particular as a little kid, perhaps a bit socially "late", and a bit above average on some subjects. I worked hard to impress my professors in elementary school, and junior high school as well. But things got really fucking horrible as soon as I entered high school because of the bullying. If you happen to be weird, to be short and physically weak, you'll get picked on. I'm not saying this wouldn't have happened if x or y; but the administration did nothing. I spent years getting bullied, and no one fucking acted about it. My grades tanked of course, and it made me feel like fucking shit for not living up to the expectations. How many fucking times did I hear that I was wasted potential, some times said less diplomatically than others ? Now, here comes the "even worse" part, because there are systemic issues. I loved biology. I was a fucking nerd, and I loved living things. I loved chemistry, space; in fact, everything that wasn't maths. Yet, nothing could be done apparently without that last fucking subject, so my grades got absolutely catastrophic for a science pupil. My parents, who aren't rich mind you, spent so much money to hire a professor to help me get better at maths, that's how bad it was. This circus kept going on until I left high school, I barely managed to get the university entrance diploma through a second session. As the results came in, I had never, ever panicked before something. My heart was beating as if I was sprinting, and I was sweating so much my clothes were dripping with this disgusting stuff. This is fucking normal. This is how an excellent school system prepares students to be intelligent and curious human beings, and not simply some obedient bots made to work until their deaths under capitalism. But it doesn't end there just yet. With this diploma, I was free to march towards my doom. Of course, I applied for the biology degree, and instantly fell in love with cellular and micro-biology. Problem : there it fucking was again. Mathematics, and this time, there was nothing I could do, I was like a fish outside of the pond, it actually managed to make me feel like a dumb piece of shit, regardless of my performances in other subjects. And that's where my dreams died; I went to study english for the next few years, and here I am today, in the last year for a degree I chose out of convenience rather than through passion.
Literally, all I wanted was to study biology to help my fellow man, I never wanted to be bullied, I never wanted to become depressed for more than 10 years, I never wanted to grow to be a social outcast, I never wanted to become so filled with hate that I sometimes dream of retribution for all these years, and I never wanted my dreams to be crushed. I genuinely believe in meritocracy, and helping others. Living, and working a good life to create a better world, and instead, I got this. Ironically, now I know that even if I managed to go for my dream job, I'd have served a corporation; and would've been miserable, without knowing exactly why. Almost works out in the end, ironically. Still, I have panic attacks some days, and nightmares about this shit; no matter how absolutely devoid of meaning it actually is. But no matter, the system is fine apparently, so fuck all of us I guess.
Could be far worse. I have dropped out for like a year, then re-enlisted to finish my degree (dropped out between semesters). But even then, the economy is dead, there's nothing I can do, reatistically speaking, to get a job that isn't trash, and pays decently. So I might try to enlist for a master's degree afterwards, but the requirements are so high that I'm fairly certain my past as a bad student will lock this opportunity away from me. But honestly, there's still hope for me, no matter what happened, all that matters is the end result, and I perfectly know what I don't want to do until I die; and so do you.
The way we teach Arithmatic is almost useless and actively harms scientific fields IMO. A certain amount of literacy is needed, of course, but that's more knowing what tests to use and if your results are making sense.
The number of Mathmaticians I know who can't use the Chain rule to solve a Calculus Problem but are busy exploring the intersection of Bayesian Statistics and Godels theorem is extensive. But they were gently waved through once a math teacher recognised their talent which doesn't happen in the 2nd rank universities.
Dunno how (bad) it is in the USA, but my case is related to the educational system in France. We follow a super rigid tradition instead of opting for separate classes like in other civilized countries, which means inevitably that students who are bad in one subjects will inevitably be hampered if that subject is part of the larger "package".
Anyway, you're right, and I can only hope for a revolution in education, no child deserves to have their dreams crushed.
I'm from Australia, so university at least is similar in that many subjects are set in the course you do. If you're bad at Maths in high school bridging courses and free tutoring is offered for the "hard" sciences in University, at least.
Obviously there's minimum levels of competency at Maths you need to actually do the work. You need stats in Genomics and Molecular Bio, you need hardcore calculus in Astrophysics and there's no real avoiding that because it's an integral part of the day to day work.
But they're not doing a good job of teaching it, and outside of Physical Chemistry and Physics there are usually fields where those weak in maths can go and still contribute significantly, even if it ends up being Admin or Science Communication.
It's like that everywhere, but here it goes : it was fucking horrible and left me scarred. I have nothing but pure, burning hatred for all of this.
I wasn't particular as a little kid, perhaps a bit socially "late", and a bit above average on some subjects. I worked hard to impress my professors in elementary school, and junior high school as well. But things got really fucking horrible as soon as I entered high school because of the bullying. If you happen to be weird, to be short and physically weak, you'll get picked on. I'm not saying this wouldn't have happened if x or y; but the administration did nothing. I spent years getting bullied, and no one fucking acted about it. My grades tanked of course, and it made me feel like fucking shit for not living up to the expectations. How many fucking times did I hear that I was wasted potential, some times said less diplomatically than others ? Now, here comes the "even worse" part, because there are systemic issues. I loved biology. I was a fucking nerd, and I loved living things. I loved chemistry, space; in fact, everything that wasn't maths. Yet, nothing could be done apparently without that last fucking subject, so my grades got absolutely catastrophic for a science pupil. My parents, who aren't rich mind you, spent so much money to hire a professor to help me get better at maths, that's how bad it was. This circus kept going on until I left high school, I barely managed to get the university entrance diploma through a second session. As the results came in, I had never, ever panicked before something. My heart was beating as if I was sprinting, and I was sweating so much my clothes were dripping with this disgusting stuff. This is fucking normal. This is how an excellent school system prepares students to be intelligent and curious human beings, and not simply some obedient bots made to work until their deaths under capitalism. But it doesn't end there just yet. With this diploma, I was free to march towards my doom. Of course, I applied for the biology degree, and instantly fell in love with cellular and micro-biology. Problem : there it fucking was again. Mathematics, and this time, there was nothing I could do, I was like a fish outside of the pond, it actually managed to make me feel like a dumb piece of shit, regardless of my performances in other subjects. And that's where my dreams died; I went to study english for the next few years, and here I am today, in the last year for a degree I chose out of convenience rather than through passion.
Literally, all I wanted was to study biology to help my fellow man, I never wanted to be bullied, I never wanted to become depressed for more than 10 years, I never wanted to grow to be a social outcast, I never wanted to become so filled with hate that I sometimes dream of retribution for all these years, and I never wanted my dreams to be crushed. I genuinely believe in meritocracy, and helping others. Living, and working a good life to create a better world, and instead, I got this. Ironically, now I know that even if I managed to go for my dream job, I'd have served a corporation; and would've been miserable, without knowing exactly why. Almost works out in the end, ironically. Still, I have panic attacks some days, and nightmares about this shit; no matter how absolutely devoid of meaning it actually is. But no matter, the system is fine apparently, so fuck all of us I guess.
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Could be far worse. I have dropped out for like a year, then re-enlisted to finish my degree (dropped out between semesters). But even then, the economy is dead, there's nothing I can do, reatistically speaking, to get a job that isn't trash, and pays decently. So I might try to enlist for a master's degree afterwards, but the requirements are so high that I'm fairly certain my past as a bad student will lock this opportunity away from me. But honestly, there's still hope for me, no matter what happened, all that matters is the end result, and I perfectly know what I don't want to do until I die; and so do you.
The way we teach Arithmatic is almost useless and actively harms scientific fields IMO. A certain amount of literacy is needed, of course, but that's more knowing what tests to use and if your results are making sense.
The number of Mathmaticians I know who can't use the Chain rule to solve a Calculus Problem but are busy exploring the intersection of Bayesian Statistics and Godels theorem is extensive. But they were gently waved through once a math teacher recognised their talent which doesn't happen in the 2nd rank universities.
Dunno how (bad) it is in the USA, but my case is related to the educational system in France. We follow a super rigid tradition instead of opting for separate classes like in other civilized countries, which means inevitably that students who are bad in one subjects will inevitably be hampered if that subject is part of the larger "package".
Anyway, you're right, and I can only hope for a revolution in education, no child deserves to have their dreams crushed.
I'm from Australia, so university at least is similar in that many subjects are set in the course you do. If you're bad at Maths in high school bridging courses and free tutoring is offered for the "hard" sciences in University, at least.
Obviously there's minimum levels of competency at Maths you need to actually do the work. You need stats in Genomics and Molecular Bio, you need hardcore calculus in Astrophysics and there's no real avoiding that because it's an integral part of the day to day work.
But they're not doing a good job of teaching it, and outside of Physical Chemistry and Physics there are usually fields where those weak in maths can go and still contribute significantly, even if it ends up being Admin or Science Communication.