I originally took Pre-Calculus to fulfill a pre-requisite for calculus, which was required for a computer science degree, but I have since switched my major to history. Consequently, instead of Goal 5 being waived, Pre-Calculus was counted towards it.

To be honest, I struggled with this class. Math is simply not my strong suit, but I had to get through this class. What I learned from this class that was the most important though was not something about graphs or variables, but was instead the importance of participation. There are several ways in which this happened.

First, I have always been that “raising my hand for everything” kid, from the time I started school, but the importance of this in college was underscored in college. I noticed that if I didn’t ask a question I was confused about, no one else did. And about three quarters of the time when I did, half the class seemed like were just as confused as me and significantly less so after I asked. I also noticed, as I overheard bits and pieces of people’s lives in the halls, that the other kids who asked questions did better than those who did not, and as the class thinned out from withdrawals it was never the kids always asking questions.

Second, this was the most paper-intensive class I’d ever had to that point, and that was because I was constantly taking notes.  Studying for the final was particularly unpleasant (by studying for finals standards). One of the reasons I got a decent grade in this class was that I constantly took notes.

Finally, in addition to a participation grade in class we had something called “Culture points,” which brings me to my artifact.

Culture points basically meant we had to do attend math-related presentations or activities offered by the school as part of our grade. There were 10 or so different opportunities and we had to go and write about up to five for five percent of our grade.

I was initially disgruntled about having to do even more math-related things, but found that I actually enjoyed most of the math culture related things. So I actually enjoyed participating in math, even outside of class.

For my artifact, I chose one of my culture point write-ups, since I think it reflects my greater appreciation for math in everyday life.