“The people you know who seem wicked smart, and who seem to come up with ideas much faster than you possibly could, are often people who have simply thought about the issues for much longer than you have.”

I became well-rehearsed in failed attempts, and so much more patient as a result. ​ As a result, my tolerance for frustration is so much higher. I’m convinced that the seeds of patience and resilience were planted and sprouted in those math notebooks. ​ The art lies in knowing which tool to grab ​ And just because I arrived at an answer, didn’t immediately make it the right one. ​ Answering that question directly is a mistake. When are you going to need to factor a polynomial in the “real world”? Maybe never, kid. Especially not with that attitude. But when are you going to face a problem that requires focusing for more than 30 seconds? All the goddamn time. ​ I needed that bottom row of math textbooks. They were my anchor. The bedrock. The foundation for much of what I’ve learned, and a sturdy base for everything still to come. ​ At times, I hated math. And yet, six years later, I’m so grateful that I studied it. The reasons have nothing to do with numbers and everything to do with life.

All of my math stuff from grad school. Contribute to mbrandonw/my-math-notes development by creating an account on GitHub.