For the Aspiring Unmathematician

Articles to read when you can't get over your GPA or a test score or . . . general feelings of worthlessness.

“Yet I cannot help but think of all the students who persist in mathematics.  In spite of so many unspoken doubts, so many negative influences, these students have made their way through the doors to our classrooms.” -- Benjamin Braun, “The Secret Question: Are We Actually Good At Math?

“We give power to failure when we don’t talk about it. We give it power when we hide it. So I write this to leverage the power for my good and the good of those around me. To remind myself why I don’t have to be afraid. To remind YOU why you don’t have to be afraid. Because you’re not alone in your failure, friend. And neither am I.” -- Deborah Wilkerson, “Freedom in Failure

 It would be hard to overstate what this meant to me.  It meant that I had, somewhere buried deep inside, an ability to do math.  Maybe it was small, but it was something that could be nurtured and, given the right conditions, it could grow.   It had been crushed out of me all those years ago, but with some help it could be found again.” -- Joe Schwartz, “My Confession, Part 2: I Am Saved by the MTBoS

Because we believe that the idea of “math people” is the most self-destructive idea in America today. The truth is, you probably are a math person, and by thinking otherwise, you are possibly hamstringing your own career.” -- Miles Kimball and Noah Smith, “ The Myth of 'I'm Bad at Math'”

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