I’m no stranger to challenge. I feel as if I have hit many obstacles on my
road through life. The first of which
proved to be school, in general.
I struggled to pay attention in class, and I had no ambition
to do homework. It felt like senseless
repetition, to me. I failed basic
algebra several times… I couldn’t make
it through history class in the first try, either. I don’t do well memorizing names and
dates. It just didn’t connect with me…It took me 5 ½ years to complete 4 years of high school, but I graduated!
I felt like I wasn’t capable of succeeding at college at the
time, so I joined the US Army!
My journey as a soldier involved quite a bit of
self-discovery. My military experience
sometimes feels like a completely separate world…I finally came to the realization that I really did need a college degree if I wanted something more than a minimum wage job. I applied to the local community college and started on a path to self-improvement in spite of my complete fear of Algebra.
Allow me to expand on my fear of Algebra.
I was discussing the prospect of college with a close
friend. I was telling her what my
concerns were about college, and when I got to Algebra, I burst into tears!We weren’t even talking about me signing up – we were just talking about what ifs!!
And here I was, bawling on her couch before I was even enrolled in an Algebra class!!!
When I finally got started in college, I knew that math
would be a struggle, so I made it a point to set myself up with a study group
and take advantage of ALL of my resources.
I was completing general education courses to get an Associate of Arts
degree and transfer into a Physical Therapy program. I got an A in my Intro to Algebra class. I tutored my friend during Intermediate
Algebra! Then, I faced a choice:
College Algebra followed by Trigonometry
Or
Precalculus
That same semester, I was taking Physics…
My life was about to take a dramatic turn…Continued in:
A History of Challenge - Part 2
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