g division in your head is stupid. So freshman algebra rolled around and I loved it. After two weeks in the class I was three and one half chapters ahead of the teacher. He would only assign the odd problems for homework, but Id do them all. Geometry was even cooler. But thinking back, not one of the teachers even commended me for doing so well. My father noticed I was good at it, but I thought he had to tell me I was good; he was my father.The next year, my junior year, I started to become a more social person. Not having the proper guidance to balance my education and social life, I started slacking. I pretty much gave up on school, moved out of my parents house at 17, and thought I had the world figured out. Somehow I still managed to graduate with a 3.2, but I never gave college a half a thought. I was busy being an idiot.My father always encouraged me to do well in school, and he was very proud of me. He always told me the importance of math and how being good at it would offer me a good career, but I was a teenager. To me, him telling me to do my math so I can get a good job ranked right next to him telling me to take out the trash. I needed more encouragement. I needed proof that math was actually used for something. Not one teacher ever pulled me aside and said, "Hey youre good at this. This is special. Dont let this go." Not a counselor, nobody. During my junior class scheduling my counselor looked at my record and said, "Like those math books, eh?" That was all he could say? I would get 100 percent in the class some semesters. No one could say anything. I look back on now that Im older and I think, "Man it wouldve been nice for someone to say something."Im not blaming, all my mistakes are my fault, but you would think that taking a sincere interest in students would be those peoples job. If someone wouldve told me that people who are as good as I at math get everything they want out of life if they use it, and actually take an...
