Math for real life

Because if I wasn't ranting, I'd be moping--here's something else that bugs me.

High school math.

Yes, that's right. I was a horrible math student, and even now would probably be barely math literate. I saw a drawing of long division yesterday and wondered how it worked, because it looked confusing as hell...Yep, pretty much math retarded.

And did taking trigonometry or advanced algebra help? Nope. It led to intense screaming matches with my dear mom, who was quite good at math but not so good at helping people who are bad at math. I had countless math tutors who were very helpful but still, I struggled. With a math tutor I got 60% on tests--a mark I rarely saw, because my other classes never dropped that low. It was a nightmare, I had extreme anxiety because of math, my test scores haunted my dreams.

I finally quit math in Grade 11, and halleleujah, the heavens opened up. My average went way up, and I was so much happier. I also think I may have dyscalcula, as I mix up phone number frequently and once wrote an entire trig test with each formula reversed. But, that's no excuse for struggling and being terrible at math apparently.

My solution to this? Turn basic-level math into a less-stigmatized course, called Math for Real Life. Balancing a household budget? Taxes? Having an employee? Being a contractor? All things that could REALLY be helpful when trying to live ''like an adult.'' Calculate your mortgage payments? How much of a downpayment should you put down? What is the amortization rate? What will the strata fees add to your mortgage and can you afford it?

Why don't we turn math into something ACTUALLY useful, instead of a living nightmare for us poor math-challenged folks. I would have taken a course like that and USED IT. Instead I whip out my calculator (suck that math teachers--I have never NOT used a calculator in real life) and pore of the details of my mortgage or what I should charge for my freelance writing per hour. And it works for me, but it would have been so much easier had someone taught me the basics of this.

Unstigmatize math and you'll make it way more user-friendly. Bonus: students who can calculate their timesheets at work, and figure out what wages they need in the workplace. Aspirations people!