Math is About Persistence, not Enjoyment

There are two scenarios when one looks back on their high school experience: you either loved or hated math class. Many people will extrapolate from there and say, "I hated math class. I wasn't any good at it, I just don't think that way." People don't really argue with this thought. It almost seems logical. Who hasn't struggled with a math concept over the course of their educational career? 

We use math every day. When you are trying to determine if a sale is worthwhile, spacing pictures equally on the wall, or calculating how much longer a trip will last if you are going the speed limit. Now the question becomes, did your distaste for math stop you from figuring those problems out? No. What will keep you from figuring out those problems is your level of math proficiency.

Proficiency is tied to practice, not enjoyment. You become better when you practice. Want to hit a baseball? Practice. When you first started to practice hitting a ball there was a lot of failure. Failure isn't fun. This is where the final piece of the puzzle pops into place. Your desire to learn created persistence. It's that persistence that made you practice even when you hated it.

You use math every day. It's important to have adequate skills so that you can navigate the math problems of every day life. Like when learning to hit a baseball, it is helpful when you have a coach that already knows how to hit a baseball. Same goes for math. If you are having trouble it can help to work with a tutor and keep practicing.