Mathematics my Friend.
Over the years, students have shown a latent fear for Mathematics which has made it quite difficult for many of them to put in their best in this subject. A few of us are bold enough to tackle our problems head on and see it bow to us. Some shy away after a half-hearted effort and the problem seems resilient. Others just give in to the problem, making no attempt at all to fight it.
The story was shared by a friend of mine, of how our attitude to an issue affects it's period of existence. In his secondary school days, he was quite a tall boy by all standards. But there was another boy in the school who was taller than he was and a bit larger in width. This larger boy wanted to prove his superiority over others and chose this friend as his victim.
Every time he came across him in the school hallways or refectory, he always had something for him: either a smack at the back of his head, or a shove when he wasn't expecting it, or a deliberate tripping of the guy as he passed him. This resulted in my friend bearing a lot of embarrassment, not to talk of amassing bruises (both to his body and ego). He was afraid to report the bully. Most of the time, when he fell due to the bully deliberately tripping him, he'd get up and apologize to the bully for falling over his legs. Talk about timidity!
One weekend, he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and said, "I don't have to take this anymore. I'm a strong boy." He flexed his little muscles before the mirror and encouraged himself. At school the next week, needless to say, he met up with his nemesis, who was coming towards him from the opposite direction. He kept his eyes on the bully, expecting trouble. The guy just passed by him and he breathed out a sigh of relief. Shortly, he was cuffed at the back of the head by the bully, who had sneaked up behind him. He turned around in great annoyance and dropped his books, ready for a fight.
The bully felt he had scored, finally eliciting such a response from him. He also prepared for the square off. Two blows from my friend (he says he wasn't exaggerating) and the bully was down - alas, he had a glass jaw! Needless to say, the bully's career ended that day. My friend had conquered because he dared to risk a face off with his problem.
So why don't you risk a face off with this 'Mathematics' problem? What will it take you? Just two things - discipline and determination. Determination to do what? Practice a section of it EVERYDAY! That's a tough order, isn't it? Well, that's what it will take to overcome this one. "Why everyday?" you may ask. Let me try to explain.
Earl Nightingale, an American author and speaker, dealing mostly with the subjects of human character development and motivation once said that if a person would spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person would be an expert on that subject. But I'm not advocating that you spend one hour a day on Mathematics! No, far from it!! Just 15 minutes (at least for a start) .
If I hadn't tried it or were it not possible, I would have told you so. You don't like Mathematics, you say? No problem. Just 15 minutes with that thing you don't like on a daily basis will work wonders. Try it! Why am I insisting? Because you NEED it to enter the University. So no way out! Just swallow this pill. Like the proverbial Sunday Sunday medicine (for those who partook in it those days), it will keep you healthy.
If you try a particular exercise and you seem to make no headway towards finding a solution, seek the help of a friend, colleague or teacher for a start. Thereafter, try it again by yourself, having observed the steps taken to solve the problem. On the following day, start with that same problem, then move on to another exercise. You'd notice that your confidence grows as you take those baby steps, fall, rise and try again. Don't give up! Keep on trying. Babies don't stop trying to walk because they fell the first few times! They keep trying. Soon the tottering steps get firmer. You'd soon realized that you become a master at anything you give time to.
Mathematics is your friend! It is only there to discipline and make you a better person. Don't stop. Keep trying. See you at the top!