My Math Journey
Ballerina, fashion designer, actress – these were my dreams. I craved creativity, pouring myself into dance, art, and anything that sparked imagination. But math? That was a different story. I was always curious about the "why" behind the math. When I asked, I was told things like, 'Math is not to reason why...' 'Just follow the steps.' My curiosity was stifled. I bought into the narrative that I just wasn't a math person. My first memorable success with math was in 4th grade when we had to pass timed multiplication tests. (I know many will think that this aligns more with 3rd grade rather than 4th. However, 4th grade was my first year to swap classes and I vividly remember that year.) I was a fantastic memorizer. I attribute this to my parents putting me in pageants starting at 6 months old. As I aged, the pageants I entered had a talent component. My talent was singing and dancing. I was memorizing Shirley Temple's song and dance numbers on a regu...