A word from my second math class.

My first math class has ended and I passed. Whew.  How did I do it?  Notice I said, "I passed."  That means I worked very, very hard and got a C.  I am proud of that C.  I have not had math in many years and it never was my best class.  To get a passing grade in a remedial course I really have no apptitude for is something.  I stand a little taller and walk a little prouder because of that C.  Way to go!

I have started the second remedial math class.  It is nothing but more algebra.  I get home after class and get started around 2 pm with my homework.  I work until I can't think any more.  I suppose the important thing is I am learning.  I refer not to learning algebra but to learning how to deal with a very linear process in a meticulus way.  (I am too laid back to be meticulus, and am NOT a linear thinker.)  I use colored pencils to organize the equations, take my time and double check my work.  I use my calculator for even the most basic of problems and found it helps to circle the positive and negative signs to keep everything straight.  I also find it helps to write big.  Since June, I have used up three legal pads and at least one hundred pages of filler paper.  I keep thinking the batteries in my calculator are going to die and need replacing. 

One thing that keeps me going is thinking of my Shakespeare class when I was a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  I think of Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and All's Well That Ends Well.  I think of five acts and conflict,  Queen Elizabeth I and guys in drag on stage.  But most of all, I think of Shakespeare's incredible use and command of language.  I think of words, and somehow get through tedius algebra.

Tomorrow is Monday and it is back to math class.