As a kid, I liked science and I liked to draw. In 7th grade I was in the smart kid math class. However, at some point early on in high school, I determined that I was going to be an 'artist'. By 11th grade I was in the slow kid math class. I did poorly, and in 12th grade I didn't take a math course at all.

After graduating, I learned that my parents wouldn't pay for art school. So, I squeezed into Michigan State University, and thought I was going into zoology. The one math class I had, pre-calculus, I began to fail, and I dropped it. I left MSU after one semester of drinking and gambling.

I then went to Oakland University (also in Michigan), and avoided math classes. I took general ed classes, lots of art classes, but left after 2 years and went to Boston. For 2 years I worked in a hardware store and had a lot of fun. Much of this fun wasn't conducive to learning.

After that, I returned to Oakland University and decided that I would go into astronomy. There is no undergrad in astronomy, so I figured that physics would be the place to start.

I started delivering pizzas for money. At this time, I could not remember an address more than 1 minute, if that. I had to constantly check and recheck them.

I wanted to start taking physics classes right away. But, you needed to pass Calculus I before you could. Since it was the winter, my plan was: Take precalculus in the spring, Calc I at the community college in the summer, and begin physics classes (and Calc II) in the fall.

I took precalculus that spring and got a 2.0. -I barely passed. So, I decided that I would take precalculus again in the summer, and take Calc I at the same time at the community college. That summer, I got a 2.7 in precalculus, and failed Calc I. I lied to my school and told them I passed Calc I. I signed up for some physics courses and Calc II. I listened to nothing but classical music at this time. I did not go out and have fun. The only reading I did was physics related. I got a 2.0 in Calc II. My physics courses were a mix but I passed them. That winter I got a 2.9 in Calc III. The next winter, I took 18 credits of physics: (Quantum Mechanics, Modern Physics, Vibrations and Waves, Thermodynamics, Modern Physics Lab, plus grading papers, plus undergrad reseach that got published (while learning to code in FORTRAN for that), plus I delivered pizzas. I got a 3.6 that semeseter.

Eventually, I got my PhD in medical physics. My math skills have since atrophied, but at one point, there were few physics problems that I couldn't tackle given enough time.

Math can be fucking hard, but it's beautiful stuff. When you really get into it, it's like poetry. The secrets to the universe are in it. More interestingly, it uses your brain in a way that nothing else does. You learn about yourself when you do crazy math. I do not have a natural talent at math. I didn't lay a solid foundation in math early on. But, through sheer force of will I gained compentency enough that I could find eigenvalues for a wave function like a pro.

Like kleinbl00, I've always sucked hard at arithmetic.

If you are not good at math, you aren't doing enough of it.

thenewgreen the best way to learn math is to find the limit of your problem solving abilities, and solve lots of those problems, -like hundreds of them. When you are really confident with those, move to the next chapter. Solve crazy amounts of those problems, repeat. I used to get every book I could at the library that had the type of problems I needed to learn to solve. I just kept doing them.

I think what many people misunderstand about math, is that it isn't something that you look at. or are told about, and 'get'. You only 'get' math by doing a lot of it. It takes exercise. No one can tell you how to pole vault, where you just 'get' it. Youve got to try and try and try...