Dear college student who I presume sucks terribly at math and/or science,
Don't worry, you're not alone. It may seem like you're alone when you're sitting in a lecture hall of over 300 students and almost everyone seems to understand orgo but you, or everyone but you can solve the math problem on the board in less than a minute, but trust me, you're not the only one.
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I know you had thoughts of going to medical school and becoming an anesthesiologist, and in middle school and high school you probably got 100s on every single math and science test, but then college came around and something went wrong. I'm going, to be frank here so don't take it personally. Clearly, you can't solve a calculus problem for your life (and if you can, it'd probably take you like three hours to do it). And that's okay because everyone understands different things differently.
Take it from yours truly who is one of the many people who'd take three hours to solve the aforementioned calculus problem. Maybe you don't understand basic college-level chemistry, but maybe you're a beast when it comes to writing essays and reading books. Maybe you know a ton about art; maybe you have a knack for marketing; maybe philosophy is what you'd be truly happy getting a degree in.
Likewise, always remember that one of your skills can be someone else's weakness. Some people who say they're great at understanding science courses also say that it takes them weeks and months to finish one book. Some people may be great, young, computer scientists, but they could be miserable in a history class. Doesn't that make you feel better now? Good, it should. And in case there was ever a doubt in your mind about your intelligence because you couldn't understand a semester of Java, not being good at math or science doesn't mean you aren't smart.
Now, I'm no quitter, but I do know when I'm only interested in my work and not passionate about it. And in all honesty, I feel like that distinction is truly the key to knowing for sure—not how many math problems you can solve in 10 minutes; not how many bug-free programs you write in a day. And despite what some may think, picking a non-STEM major is NOT taking 'the easy way out'—every college class is challenging in its own way.
And so my friend, you shouldn't let your weaknesses define your successes. As a super inspirational quote from Pinterest once read, "when you think you're being rejected from something good, you're be re-directed to something better."
Here's to being human.
Sincerely,
A fellow college student who sucks at math and science
