How Geometry Shaped my Goals and Love for Problem-Solving by Madeline

How Geometry Shaped my Goals and Love for Problem-Solving by Madeline - February 2025 Scholarship Essay

Since I was in 10th grade sitting in math class trying to figure out the missing angles of a figure, I have realized geometry is the one class that has sparked my intellectual curiosity and passion for learning. Geometry not just taught me math, but how to put pieces together to create something. The type of thinking I learned to do in this class relates back to my goal of owning a boutique and designing my own clothes that reflect my style and vision. Although two completely different topics, when you think outside the box, fitting shapes and angles together to form something connects to putting fabrics, colors, and patterns together to make a piece of clothing. Learning geometry also gave me the confidence in school I needed to push myself in other classes once I realized how much I enjoyed figuring out what makes things work.
Up until geometry, I had hated every math class I had taken because it was all about memorizing formulas. Other math classes never really made sense and always felt random and all over the place, geometry just made sense because you could actually visualize what your end goal was to solve. It taught me how to look at things to see how different things fit together which all added up to see a bigger picture. I also enjoyed the challenge of treating each problem like a puzzle to make everything line up the right way instead of just staring at a mess of numbers. This not only taught me general math, but to keep working at big, real-life puzzles until I could figure them out and see the big life picture.
I feel as though this way of thinking helped lead me to learn what my future goals are. I plan to go to college to study business to one day open my own boutique since business requires taking different pieces and ideas and putting them together to, in my case, design my own clothing and smoothly run a thriving store. I believe problem-solving is one of the most important life skills to get you through life, and I could not have learned it if it weren’t for geometry.
As much as I didn’t realize it then, geometry sparked my interest and passion for problem-solving and creativity. It showed how much I enjoy figuring things out, not just in math, but in my goals of fashion and business. It also taught me the life skills of problem-solving, patience, and putting different pieces together until the fit, all of which I hope to use as I further my education in college and reach my career goals.