Nowadays, students cringe when they hear that they have to take a math class because it is a requirement to graduate. Math is becoming more and more of a foreign language than a useful tool to manage simple everyday tasks. But yet, there are still some people who chose to have a future centered around Mathematics. We call them, "Math Majors." And yes, I have chosen to have my life centered around Math and absolutely have a love-hate relationship with my major.
1. Wishing your professor gave a formula sheet for the exam.
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If you think high school Geometry is bad with a formula sheet, get to college and realize formula sheets are a rare existence. If you have taken Differential Equations, Probability, or Calculus I-III, you know the struggle of desperately wanting a formula sheet. There are many reasons for wanting a formula sheet, but the main reason students want a formula sheet is to not have to remember a whole bunch of formulas.
2. Having problem sets.
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These are a blessing and a curse. When a professor gives you a problem set, it is time to find your study buddies and begin a week filled with many tears, thoughts of wanting to rip your hair out of your head from confusion and frustration, and plenty of erasers. Although there are many negatives, these problem sets are like mini take home tests where you can ask your friends and the internet for help to guide you in some sort of direction when you are lost.
3. When you have an exam and you feel like you know nothing.
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No matter how hard you study, you will never feel like you studied enough. You stay up all night, or in some cases all week, to just get a passing grade. However, that isn't the case for many. You just burn yourself out and make yourself more frustrated and hopeless than before you pulled the all-nighter. Sometimes you even begin to cry in the exam and just want to give up.
4. You get to learn the entire Greek alphabet.
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You thought Algebra had a lot of letters involved? Welcome to Logic, Complex Variables, Modern Algebra, Linear Algebra, and any other upper-level elective a Math Major needs to take. We get the honor and privilege to learn the entire Greek alphabet in class or through our homework because if we don't we aren't going to survive.
And now, my all-time favorite struggle of being a Math Major:
5. The reaction people give when you tell them you are in fact, a math major.
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I get it, you hate Math. However, I like Math and plenty of people do. So please stop with the "eww, that's a terrible major" or the look of confusion and ask me to repeat my major again. I get Math is something that isn't easy for many and in fact, it isn't easy for me at times; however, Math is involved in our everyday lives so much that if it weren't for people like me, we wouldn't have math to thank for all of the things in our lives that are related to math in some way, shape or form.