Life's Interesting in an Off-track Way

When I was younger, math was always my worst subject. I never liked doing any of the homework and I was never interested in paying attention in class; I'd always be reading books (which got me in trouble plenty of times). I remember thinking how I would never get a job that needed more than the basics of math. 

In my first year of college I still had the mindset of not going anywhere near math, so I chose broadcast journalism as my major. I stayed in it for almost two years before I realized that this was not something I was interested in and, a few months before my second year of college ended, I started planning on changing my major. I was still adamant on not going into any math-related major. 


The summer before my third year, my family and I unexpectedly moved here to San Diego. 
None of the credits from my old school transferred to the community college I started attending so I was basically a freshman all over again. 
My first math class here was very basic (elementary algebra) despite the fact that I had taken up to pre-calculus in my high school years. I decided to do this since I wanted to learn the subject properly this time (in hindsight, though, I should have taken the math class one level below pre-calc). 

By the end of my second calculus class I started getting really interested in the applications of math and decided to major in statistics here at San Diego State University.

My younger self would have never been able to entertain the notion that her future self would have ended up here, and I think I would have a fun time trying to convince her that it isn't so terrible. I feel like this is how the conversation would go -------------------------------------------->

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 4, 2018 at 12:54 AM

    Hello Dana!
    It's funny how things worked out for you at the end. While reading your blog I couldn't help but remember a popular saying my grandmother would say. "Lo que no es para ti aunque te pongas y lo que es para ti aunque te quites." Roughly translated it means that whatever is not meant for you can't be forced and what is meant for you can't be evaded. I am a math major so I feel the struggle you are going through. If stats is what you are determined to pursue I wish you the best of luck and encourage you to become familiar with the math learning center in the love library on the third floor. I look forward to your future posts and your progress in statistics!

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  2. Meaghan GavaganSeptember 4, 2018 at 10:58 AM

    Hey Dana,
    That's awesome that the one subject you didn't like growing up is the subject you ended up majoring in! I'm a very indecisive person and always thought I would end up changing my major (Hospitality Management) since i've been interested in it since High School, but here I am nearly 4 years later, with the same major. I hope you enjoy majoring in statistics, that was one of my favorite math classes to take in college!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shaira BillanesSeptember 4, 2018 at 5:15 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Shaira BillanesSeptember 4, 2018 at 5:16 PM

    Hi Dana!
    Wow, from broadcast journalism to statistics, that's definitely a twist in majors but I'm so glad it worked out for you! I too hated math ever since I was little and to this day I still dislike math, but it isn't as bad as I would have thought it to be. I also chose a major that wasn't too heavily involved in math courses, which is one of the many reasons I chose to be a biology major. In highschool, I don't really know why the idea of statistics really scared me away from taking it (even though I took calculus, I heard one bad thing about stats and I chickened out). In hindsight I wish I took it back then, if I did maybe I wouldn't be taking it now, but it's not as bad as I thought! Good luck in your major, I hope you continue to keep enjoying it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownSeptember 7, 2018 at 11:59 PM

    Hi Dana,
    I think it's awesome that you've learned to love math. I've always been a big fan a math myself and have never really like writing. What's it like coming from a journalism background talking to other statistic majors.

    ReplyDelete

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