Mathematics
I think many of you know of my love for math. Now, I'd like to take some time to show why.
I can't say for sure what fascinated me about it when I was a wee little kid. All I remember was working out multi-digit multiplication questions in the sandbox when I was about six. (My, was I a geek!)
Something about those numbers, combining in different ways to churn out different numbers. How odd numbers are, even back then...
It was on to higher and dryer stuff. Geometry. Logic. Beginning algebra. Divisibility rules. Quick ways to multiply numbers. (Did you know that you can easily multiply a two-digit number by 11 by "splitting" the number into three digits (34 becomes 3_4 and 57 becomes 5_7) and then putting the sum of the two digits as the middle digit (adding one to the hundreds digit if the sum is greater than 10) (34 becomes 374 and 57 becomes 627)?)
Then came algebra. I think here I can explain why I liked math so much. Algebra is about finding relations to the unknown: that variable known as x. What is x? How does another variable, y, change with x? How can one find x? There was just something... mysterious about it. Something about that x... an unknown number... math held unknown territories, new tricks to discover, new formulae to learn, new mysteries to ponder over.
I must say, my high school, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), helped me a great deal with my love for math. Why? Because instead of just churning out a whole bunch of formulae and processes to memorize, they showed me how they work. And that allowed me to understand it all better, but it also added a sense of beauty to math. There was an entire art behind trig identities and whatnot. All this made me itching to explore more into the unknown planets of mathematics.
I could continue on and on about all this, but I think you've had enough. ;-P
Basically, the reason I like math is that it is an immense universe full of beauty and mystery, ready for the Star Defender in me to explore its planets and discover its secrets.
For those of you who don't like math: don't worry. I'm sure there are other universes for you to explore. I just wanted to explain why I like math so much... and why I would like to major in it when I go to Case Western.
Ah, so that's mathematics for me. Rather poetic, I'd say...
I can't say for sure what fascinated me about it when I was a wee little kid. All I remember was working out multi-digit multiplication questions in the sandbox when I was about six. (My, was I a geek!)
Something about those numbers, combining in different ways to churn out different numbers. How odd numbers are, even back then...
It was on to higher and dryer stuff. Geometry. Logic. Beginning algebra. Divisibility rules. Quick ways to multiply numbers. (Did you know that you can easily multiply a two-digit number by 11 by "splitting" the number into three digits (34 becomes 3_4 and 57 becomes 5_7) and then putting the sum of the two digits as the middle digit (adding one to the hundreds digit if the sum is greater than 10) (34 becomes 374 and 57 becomes 627)?)
Then came algebra. I think here I can explain why I liked math so much. Algebra is about finding relations to the unknown: that variable known as x. What is x? How does another variable, y, change with x? How can one find x? There was just something... mysterious about it. Something about that x... an unknown number... math held unknown territories, new tricks to discover, new formulae to learn, new mysteries to ponder over.
I must say, my high school, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), helped me a great deal with my love for math. Why? Because instead of just churning out a whole bunch of formulae and processes to memorize, they showed me how they work. And that allowed me to understand it all better, but it also added a sense of beauty to math. There was an entire art behind trig identities and whatnot. All this made me itching to explore more into the unknown planets of mathematics.
I could continue on and on about all this, but I think you've had enough. ;-P
Basically, the reason I like math is that it is an immense universe full of beauty and mystery, ready for the Star Defender in me to explore its planets and discover its secrets.
For those of you who don't like math: don't worry. I'm sure there are other universes for you to explore. I just wanted to explain why I like math so much... and why I would like to major in it when I go to Case Western.
Ah, so that's mathematics for me. Rather poetic, I'd say...
posted by stardf29 at
11:18 PM
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