(x^2+y^2-1)^3-x^2y^3=0 by Carmen

(x^2+y^2-1)^3-x^2y^3=0 by Carmen - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

Honestly, I do not like math. It does not agree with me, or I with it, but we have an understanding. It’s a long story. Oddly enough, if I were to teach any subject, I would prefer this almost-universally hated one because of that same reason. Math, particularly below eleventh grade, is straight forward; there is no need to analyze or attribute symbolism other than numerical values to variables. I currently tutor students on the subject; sharing rules and analogies I have devised a way to understand the abstractness of math, plus work to erase their negative preconceptions of the subject. I would be glad to continue this work as a professional. Math is not evil. For me, helping students overcome the “doomed” subject is a necessary public service.
Ever since 10th grade, math became a force to reckon with in my life. And ever since, I have had to contrive plans to stand up to it. I have struggled mentally, and subsequently, have succeeded in the subject. I know how it feels to look at formulas and explanations as if they were written in hieroglyphics. Not pleasant. But along the way, I have finally been translating their meaning to something understandable. For this reason, I started tutoring younger students. I love to share what I have learned and hopefully elucidate a couple of lost students. Usually, I try to explain concepts in concrete ways relating to TV shows or movies so they can think of math as less of an ethereal substance. Imaginary numbers, for example, are such a mythical, almost magical, concept yet such a simple one at the same time.
Recently I have started explaining them with the show Stranger Things, by saying that according to our rules of normalcy, which are usually on point; monsters don’t appear out of an alternate dimension and eat people. Yet, that is the reality in this fictional account, that the appearance of said monster goes against our already established rules does not mean the monster doesn’t exist, simply that in this scenario, our rules, apparently, aren’t perfect and don’t cover the entirety of reality. God didn’t commend us these laws; we figured them out along the way, which means that like humans, they aren’t perfect. Being no expert, I don’t have a 100% success rate, but I do try to empathize with their fright of such a dreaded subject, one found everywhere, and hope some tricks I made up help make their high school careers a bit less confusing.
That is another matter; math is everywhere, physics, music, the tossing of a coin. Maybe perceiving it as an aid would help the anxiety it provokes with its omnipresence. As I said, I do not like math, but I do respect and appreciate it. Many classmates of mine have developed a grudge against the subject. I would really like to change this public opinion of what is basically an ancient tool to represent reality in an ordered manner. The problem is that students see the ugly side of math. The expectations to excel at it are so high, that it becomes a very real monster. People get aggravated by it. Again, math is there to help us. It was the Google of ancient times, more often than not, accurately giving answers for life’s mysteries.
I would like to continue teaching students that math is a mental instrument, a friend, if you may. No more, “What am I supposed to do?” “What do those signs mean?” “Is it Greek, did we actually cover this in class?” “Will this lower my GPA?” Learning to live and work with this “classic” shouldn’t be an annoyance. The world needs less haters of and more connoisseurs of math, because math is life.