The path to greatness!
October 10, 2011 § 1 Comment
Today someone suggested that I explain how I ended up studying math and science after such a discouraging start.
The truth is I’m not entirely sure.
I owe a great deal to my parents. One of my biggest technical issues with math was my lack of organization. Since I’m left handed, I had a tendency to line up all of my numbers to the left margin. I also had pretty poor handwriting, so my fours and nines looked exactly the same. I couldn’t even tell the difference. Dear Mom and Dad noticed this and had me tutored in fourth grade by the lovely Mrs. C.
Most of the hour was spent on distinguishing my handwriting.
And forcing me to budge everything over to the right margin.
Eventually, I developed better habits. I learned to stop trying to cram all of my work onto one sheet of paper (I used to try to fit over 20 problems on one side of the page) and I learned to pay attention to detail. It was more than just a lesson in handwriting and organization, however. It was a lesson in accountability and communication. I was forced to realize that math (and all of my other schoolwork) was not just for me. Solving a problem meant nothing if I couldn’t communicate my answer.
And isn’t THAT a mind-blowing realization? Math and science are nothing more than the logical organization of ideas in a globally understood format. Great discoveries and calculations mean nothing if you can’t explain them to anyone!
But back to how I ended up in math and physics.
After I was whipped into academic shape, I was fairly indifferent to math and science. I still had the occasional difficulty and neither subject really fascinated me. I tried to participate in math field day, but whenever I went to practice, the teacher would spend the entire time catering to the boys who already knew how to do everything. No one ever really took the time to teach me those helpful extra bits.
Like permutations. I had no idea what a permutation was until I studied for the SAT Math II subject test. No one had ever mentioned it to me.
All of this changed in 10th grade when I began Algebra II. I was already in the accelerated math group, but that was more due to my competitiveness than my actual love of math. But I hadn’t had Ms. B yet.
I had already known Ms. B for a couple years by 10th grade. She had coached the junior high school girls’ track team and was the reason I became a long distance runner. In fact, Ms. B was probably one of my biggest inspirations during those awful adolescent years. I remember the first practice in 7th grade, when we had to pick which event we wanted to try. I was quite stubborn and insisted on trying out for shot put. Keep in mind that I was a head shorter than everyone else and toothpick thin.
It was rather comical now that I look back on it.
But Ms. B didn’t discourage me. Instead, she took one look at me and told me that I should run long distance. After a few trying shot put practices, I agreed. She put me in the 3200 meter (2 mile) event for the next race. I came in dead last with a time of almost 19 minutes.
In the next race I shaved off my time to 13:52 min.
So it was this woman that taught me Algebra II. Just like in track, she expected a great deal out of me. And just like with the 3200 m, I wanted to prove her right. It was hard work- she had high expectations and refused to relax them- but it was worth it. By the end of the year, I not only had a greater appreciation for math, but a greater belief in my abilities as a mathematician.
Because she believed in me.
So how did I end up in math and physics? There are a lot of reasons. I could go through and list each little exposure and fascination I have come across throughout my life. But in the end, we don’t try to accomplish the hard stuff just because we think it looks interesting. We push ourselves to our limits and stretch our boundaries because someone, somewhere, believed we could.
Be it a teacher, a parent, a friend, or ourselves.
Exploristas and Scientistas 
I was very inspired by this. But recognizing that Mae was largely speaking to young women, and not her older friend Jim, I’ll comment as a dedicated STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education teacher to tell you why her message here is so important.
First, it’s very easy to follow the opposite path or paths Mae has followed. Where she seems to keep navigating toward technical interests, classes and hopefully careers, it’s much, much easier to do the opposite. Most young people in elementary school truly enjoy science, technology, math, and designing and building things (engineering). But that interest fades rapidly in middle school and high school, when we don’t immediately get those abstract concepts of algebra, cell function, mechanical advantage, metabolic pathways, and the difference between mitosis and meiosis. Since the 1990’s that’s been made worse by high-stakes exams that lead many teachers, against their own instincts, to work to “cover the material” rather than teach for understanding. And as students, even if we largely understand these subjects, it’s sometimes hard to accept that some of our childhood friends seem to understand them better when they outscore us on tests.
Those that are resilient enough, or have enough encouragement from family and teachers to pursue those technical interests in college, are often overwhelmed by “weed-out” courses where multiple choice exams often test for the exceptions rather then the foundations, and where scores must be “curved” because the mean is a full standard deviation below a typical middle C, and where professors sometimes don’t take responsibility for their failing students. Yet many of us survive our undergraduate years, and begin to consider advanced degrees, only to be lured into higher paying careers in business and sales, particularly if we’re well-spoken or pleasant. Meanwhile, Liberal Arts degrees, which at one time meant a sampling of many subject areas, now seem to include everything but STEM! Or perhaps they have “Math for Liberal Arts” and “Life Sciences for Liberal Arts”.
The overall result is that only a tiny fraction of those once fascinated by STEM subjects actually pursues a technical career or advanced degree. This is especially true for women and minorities, which are especially important in contributing to diversity of thought in STEM. It’s also important because many U.S. STEM jobs require U.S. citizenship because of their work with sensitive projects (energy, communications, aerospace, defense, etc.).
We also need more STEM education (teacher) positions filled by those who love their subjects and love people. We need these folks who are willing to work extra hard to engage and support EVERY young person in their classrooms. These inspired teachers are also those willing to digest complex topics and reiterate them in ways that everyone can understand.
Consider math, where many young people disconnect with complex formulas and complex numeracy, and now can’t even define those subjects they spent a whole year exploring. You might be surprised to discover that many math teachers have trouble explaining their subjects to lay audiences. So I’ll tell you that math is simply the study of relationships between things, real or imagined. Doesn’t that already seem more friendly? Fractions are relationships between parts of things. Algebra is the relationship between things that are known and unknown or changing. Geometry is the relationships between shapes and their parts. Trigonometry is the relationships between the parts of triangles. Calculus is the relationship between curves and straight lines. Multi-variable calculus is the relationships of curves to other curves. Statistics is the relationship between individuals, groups, and subgroups of things. Don’t you want to skip watching the MLB baseball playoffs and pick up your math book instead?
I’ll warn you that you will often meet people in these STEM subjects who want you to believe their work is more complex than it is. It’s sad, but common. When you encounter them, say, “Wow, you’re so awesome I think I’d like to work with someone else.” Then pick the teachers, professors and bosses who want to be your coach, mentor, ladder, and safety net, rather than be worshipped.
Finally, when you see others – friends, siblings, cousins, or even strangers – who have interests and talents in STEM subjects but seem to be leaning toward sports or theatre or music, or social sciences instead, remind them that they can take on many dimensions. In fact, the most interesting work is at the intersections of these subject areas. They can be an engineer AND an artist, or study the physics of music while they play music, or they can teach medicine while they work in public policy.
Like Mae, become a coach and mentor for others, share your stories and your passions, and rely on them yourself when you feel disappointed or disoriented. My little personal narrative has helped me endure countless obstacles, failures, and surprises, and enabled me to reorient, redefine, or refine myself each time. Start assembling your’s now!