Divine Lunacy

It has been quite some time since I posted, and since I have nothing more exciting to post about, I figured I’d just post this essay…

I always have had a love for problem solving. This first became evident at the age of two when I learned to open the screen door. Two became twelve and preschool became middle school, but my passion for problem solving was, unfortunately, not reflected in my work for mathematics class. In fact, my seventh grade mathematics teacher would be astounded to learn that I plan to major in the field. However, middle school ended with a transition to high school where the study of mathematics merged with an emphasis on understanding concepts, and the math “problems” of the past became the promise of my future.

My love of mathematics grew exponentially in high school, when in my junior year, I was placed in an advanced geometry class in the company of freshmen. Mr. Horne’s advanced geometry class was very different from any other mathematics course I ever had pursued. With regularity, a large word problem called “problem of the week” was assigned. Many of my peers banged their heads on their desks in agony at the thought of the collision of words and numbers, a written assignment in math. I, however, was inclined to run around the classroom with glee, though I was able to restrain myself most of the time. Unlike the work assigned during class, the problems of the week were long, counterintuitive problems that required serious thought. When solving these, I often secluded myself in my room for hours, emerging from my lair only for the occasional drink of water or to pace around the house. It was the thrill of thinking about these problems, and the joy of solving one followed by the composition of a ten-page report detailing several solutions that brought me to realize my love for mathematics.

As I prepare to travel beyond high school, I find that my need to solve problems is channeled through the medium of mathematics. Many nights I am late for dinner, unwilling to part from a particularly intriguing problem. When I finally conquer a problem that has escaped me for days, I feel elated. It is the same elation felt all those years ago when I solved the problem of the screen door. Now I stand at a new threshold where mathematics is the key that opens the door, the combination that unlocks the future, and the formula by which I will build a life.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 2nd, 2005 at 1834:02 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.