The Struggle with Logarithms by Erjola

The Struggle with Logarithms by Erjola - June 2016 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my entire schooling, I was always did very well in any mathematics class because it always came easily to me. I was in Algebra 1 in eighth grade and would always get perfect test scores and this eventually created my love for math. I also loved the logic and supporting evidence behind it because it would make sense in my mind. Then as I advanced to Algebra 2 in ninth grade and I uncovered a difficult chapter that created an obstacle between me and my favorite subject. This chapter dealt with logarithms and I can honestly say at that this was the first time I was completely lost in my math class. I was confused on the entire concept and I didn’t understand why or how the logs transferred into an exponential equation. The idea of logarithms just didn’t translate with my brain. Then, my teacher added the other concept of canceling a logarithmic equation when it has a base of e. This only led me to be even more puzzled causing me to get behind in class. My grades in my favorite and most well-accomplished class became to drop. I asked my teacher for help but nothing seemed to work for me.
Eventually, the unit test on logarithms was coming up soon and I was just as lost as ever. However, I was determined to overcome this difficulty that I first faced in math. I went home the day before the test and I watched videos on YouTube to help me how to solve logarithms. In preparation for the test I decided to go back to all the homework that was assigned and I redo it until I understood the entirety of what logarithms were. Then, around midnight after all my hard work I had something click in my brain as if a light bulb turned on above my head and I soon established the concept I was missing before. In the morning, I took my test on logarithms and I wasn’t so sure how well I did, but the next day my teacher announced that I got the highest test score of the class. So, all my effort that I put in studying my worst chapter paid off in the end because I got a 103% on that test!
I advanced in my math course into AP Calculus AB in eleventh grade and AP Calculus BC in twelfth grade. I soon realized that the extra mile I took in Algebra 2 on logarithms helped me in my future class because I learned more in depth concepts with logarithms such as deriving them and taking the integral of them. This academic obstacle also taught me an important life lesson which was to always put effort into something because one day it will help you in future. In addition to that I learned that in math class things always build off of each other so if I don’t understand something now it will be even harder for me to understand a more complex problem.