Everyone has their favorite and not-so-favorite subjects in school. When it comes to math, you’ll find that most people feel very strongly; either they love it or they hate it. Very few people fall in between!
For those of you who aren’t so enthusiastic about learning math, we understand you often wonder, “why do I have to learn math anyway? Can’t we all just use calculators nowadays?”
In order to understand why math is so important, you have to look at the bigger picture. Education isn’t really about learning what to think. It’s about learning how to think! And on that note, studying math trains your brain to process information in a certain way. It also helps you to understand information that others are sharing.
First of all, we all use math on a daily basis without even thinking about it. In order to follow a recipe, pay our bills, file taxes, budget for purchases, calculate the price of an item on sale, or follow a diet of any sort, we will need to use math. And those are just a few of many examples!
Think about the last time you heard or read a statistic of some sort. Without an understanding of math, you might not comprehend the full value of what they’re sharing with you. We see statistics shared in the news all the time, on a variety of topics from election results to coronavirus information. You don’t want to misunderstand any vital updates on either of those topics, or an enormous variety of others. Throughout your educational career, you will need to analyze data on a variety of topics, and you can’t do that without math.
And of course, math simply trains your brain to solve problems. After all, that’s what your math homework is all about. Math teaches us to follow a logical and orderly series of steps in order to reach a factual conclusion. Without math, we would simply guess at conclusions (and often arrive at very wrong ones).
Math is used for a wider variety of occupations than you might think. Do you need higher-level calculus to become an English professor? Maybe not. But everyone needs to learn some math, just to succeed in life and get through the courses that lead to their career.
Even though math might not ever become your favorite subject in school, it’s definitely necessary! Sometimes the real lesson is in doing things we need to do, rather than what we’d prefer to be doing. But we don’t want you to be miserable. If you’re struggling through math class, do remember to reach out and ask for help. Your teachers, parents, and guidance counselors sincerely want to see you succeed.