Math is not a race

You know that feeling when you are taking a test....and you are the last one left yet still not even close to being finished or when a certain concept is taking a little longer to understand? If so, you are not alone. Students often worry when they feel they are not doing the problem "fast" enough, in life we are constantly in a race against the clock. Life is so busy, constantly rushing, with so many things to do the day is over in a blink of an eye. This against the clock racing mentality carries over into our education as well, many think they have to be just as fast as a calculator. Well, once you enter math land let us say that time becomes arbitrary, there is no fast no slow, it is just you and the problem. Rushing to complete a problem will only result in careless mistakes that otherwise would have been apparent if done carefully and meticulously.

My first calculus exam was an experience to say the least, I was so immersed calculating derivatives, a new foreign concept that I had just learned a week prior, my sweaty hand gripping my barely sharpened pencil, I might have gone straight through the paper with how close my face was to the exam. Suddenly I hear "zip zip" the sound snapped me out of the zone I was in, OH NO IS TIME UP?! No, students were packing up because they finished and were leaving early. I felt bad to be honest, how is everyone else finished so fast?? I was beating myself up that I was not fast enough, as I left the classroom, I saw a group of students standing in the hall, as I walked past them, I heard,

"Man those were hard I just gave up, I didn't wanna sit there any longer" I could not believe it as I heard other students agreeing, and these were the students who left early! Fast forward a week later we got our grades back and most of the students who left early failed the test. Moral of the story rushing, giving up, and comparing yourself to the people around you, are all recipes for disaster, and this is true for life not just math. In the case of my first calc exam the students left early because they quit, but that is not always the case, the truth is sometimes people understand "faster" or finish "quicker" than others, and that is okay, because the speed in which a problem is completed does not add value to the final answer. Picture this, you are at a restaurant, and suddenly a plate is put in front of you, with a sandwich all falling apart, the fries barely cooked...you would be like....ew... you ask the waiter why the food is a mess, and he tells you it is because they have the fastest cooks. Well fast does not always mean good.

The first thing to do is stop comparing yourself to others, don't do what I did and look around during a test to see if people are almost done, that just distracts and takes away the time you could be working on the exam, same with life in all aspects comparing is a thief of joy and time. When learning new concepts do not worry if your fellow students are learning "quicker", picture math like a marathon not a sprint; slow, steady, and patience wins.

So, take your time, and until next time my mathletes, take care & God bless,

Love,

Kei