The UCSD Guardian – Nate Walker
“Telling people I’m a math major usually ends in the same response — “Wow, you must be so smart! I could never do math.” Nevermind that I got a C+ in high school pre-calculus or missed enough days of AP Statistics to technically disqualify me from graduation (my parents still don’t know), but the mere fact that I chose this supposedly devilish major earns me the categorization of “genius” in the minds of students across this campus. Roughly half the time, this statement is followed by a sigh and the assertion that they just didn’t “get” math, something I always found odd. Can you really “get” math in the same sense that you “get” brown eyes or “get” speaking a language? This seems ludicrous, yet people remain convinced that math is something you’re naturally born with, despite research showing otherwise. This way of thinking is dangerous, since it cements the damaging idea that good math students will always succeed and will always get the correct answer on their first try.”(more)