The Importance Of Maths In My Life

Oh mathematics. A type of study that sets people apart, but also brings groups together. A study that’s been around for generations, longer than I can count. It influences people in different ways, but for me, I would say “it’s complicated.” I learned how to count at a young age due to the fact that my mother was a Nigerian high school teacher. She began teaching me in my early years how to add numbers up to one hundred, spell all kinds of words, and recite all kinds of stories. A few years later, my mother enrolled me in a private Nigerian school named ECLC, which stood for Executive care and learning centre. It was the best in the area; looking back on it, I’m not quite sure how my mother was able to afford the tuition. The school taught …show more content…
In class, my peers and I would have rewards for whomever was able to multiply with the highest number. The fear of spankings began to push me towards being a multiplication whiz. I would recite the time(multiplication) table at home almost everyday. It would be entertaining for my mother; she loved seeing how excited her son was about school, even though it was mostly out of fear. The fear of mathematics shaped my early learning of the curriculum. I never used to love math because I was always forced to learn it. I was also, always taught the fundamentals of math, but never anything about the history of it until I arrived in the United States. I was originally born in the United States, but my return was at the age of nine. I was then placed into the fifth grade because of my previous learning in Nigeria. My placement in the fifth grade had ranked me ahead of my peers; what my guardians later realized was that it was a bad decision. In the beginning of the school year, I began flunking in Mathematics, English, and …show more content…
The geographical and language difference between the two countries seemed to throw me off. I felt like it would be impossible to learn about my previous interest of science ever again. I was later demoted a grade level. It was a weird feeling being with my peers at first because I felt as if I was a failure, and would not result in anything. I later learned that I was just a victim of the international divide of education. In which one country has a more advanced system of education than another. I was always criticized by my aunt and uncle in my fourth grade years for either being “too dumb” or “being too lazy.” I was saddened because I felt that I was putting forth the maximum amount of effort I could. I excelled in English, but was never able to get a grip on mathematics and science until middle school. In middle school I had a teacher that was very enthusiastic about science. He would be very excited and hyper as he walked into class every single