My Passion: Mathematics

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MY PASSION

The word 'passion' is used to describe a very strong, powerful feeling or desire.

Our passion pushes us to pursue our dreams and aspirations relentlessly. It drives us to do our best no matter what. Following your passion is following your heart's earnest cry. It gives you so much joy and a sense of fulfillment. There might be obstacles on our way, but passion is what helps us overlook and eventually overcome those obstacles. One is never forced to do what he has passion for, rather deep down, he finds joy in going after what his heart desires.

We all have passion for one thing or the other. Some 'weird' and others are 'wow'. The one thing I am so passionate about is something that almost everyone I have ever met dreads. They see it as a mountain they can never surmount. I'm pretty sure you have an idea of what it is already- it's Mathematics.

WHAT IS MATHEMATICS?

Mathematics is simply a science of shapes, letters in place of numbers and numbers. I wasn't actually born with this love for Mathematics. In fact, I hated it so much because of the kind of fierce Math teachers I had in Primary school. In my days, Math teachers were hated so much because of how mean they were. With those kind of Math teachers, Math was never fun. After my primary school, I got into high school and there, I met the first Math teacher I ever loved. She was a young, pretty lady and I can never forget her face. I was so eager to be taught by her. She was cool, calm and collected; she taught so well.She was patient enough to explain each step and most of us understood her very well. My Math grades improved tremendously and I only wished she could be my teacher forever. But sadly, after about two years, I was transferred to another school. My Dad could not longer cope with the distance so he had to move my sister and I to a school that was quite close to where we lived. I liked the school but my new Math teacher was terrible. He was very good at teaching Math but he instilled so much fear of himself in me and most of my colleagues instead of the love for Mathematics. Once again, my Math grades dropped and I continued to struggle. After a year, we had to relocate to another state because of the crisis we constantly experienced in the North. We moved to Akwa Ibom State. I was taken to a school nearby and there I met Mr. Udofa. He was tough too but he spent alot of time making us laugh in class just to ease the tension. But all that didn't improve my Math grades. The next term, I failed his test and instead of giving me a good whipping, he called me to his office and talked to me liked a father. He told me I could do better and his words really touched my heart. After that day, I picked up my Math textbook and started teaching myself things he hadn't even taught yet. My love for Math grew sporadically- it was a miracle. I spent most of my time solving so many Math problems and each time I had the answer right, it boosted my confidence. I mastered Algebra and Geometry and I became his best student. I became popular that was chosen to represent my school in a National Mathematics competition. I graduated from that school as the best student in Mathematics. My intense passion for Mathematics pushed me to apply for Mathematics. Fortunately, I wrote my JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board), passed with flying colors, scoring 76 out of 100 in Mathematics. I was oferred an admission on merit into the University of Uyo. It wasn't as easy as I taught though. I had a thousand reasons to give up but I kept pushing until I finally graduated in the year 2020. I am now a Math and Science teacher at a primary school and I am working really hard to build a strong foundation for my kids.

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Solving Math problems make me feel like there's no problem I can't solve. It has helped me learn how to think critically. In a way, Math has helped me to be more careful because after solving any problem, you have to go over it again and again just to make sure there's no mistake that can ruin your effort. Most importantly, the fact the I know Mathematics as well as I do makes me feel like I'm one of a kind.

As for my Math teacher, Mr. Udofa, I haven't set my eyes on him for the past six years. I really wish to see him one day and tell him how grateful I am to him.

Cc:
@ngoenyi
@cryptokannon
@adeljose