The first obstacle with math courses was to admit to myself that I had created my own

fear of math because it has never been my favorite subject. Over the years I have

postponed my taking of math classes due to terrible experience with one of the teachers at

the high school I attended in Jamaica. In the Caribbean, accounting could be substituted

for a math course, which I decided to do in order to move on. I hated math so badly,

but the inevitable had finally arrived. Twenty-two years later I decided to attend

Queensborough Community College, not knowing what I was about to get myself

involved in. By doing my research, I discovered that an entry exam would have to be

taken in order to be placed in the appropriate class, and of course, math was a part of it. I

wanted to die; all the negative thoughts came invading my brain and I wanted to give up

before even starting. I was now at 35 years old sitting in a math class doing Remedial that

I had avoided throughout my high school days. So I was struggling from the beginning all

because of fear. The first month was nerve wracking, discouraging, and I was saying to

myself that I do not belong in the classroom. Until one day I was expressing my

thoughts and feelings with one of my classmate who encourages me not to quit and

he will help me along the way. Afterwards, it only got better and better, and because of

networking I found out the many resources that the school provides for you to excel

academically.

I started to take advantage of the math tutoring center. My classmate and I would

frequently go to the library to study and utilize professors’ office hours. In addition, there

were websites I would uses to help me achieve the grade needed. After passing the

remedial math courses I then took the math 119 which makes it much easier for me

because I now can get all the help that I needed to get an A for the course. It became
less challenging and my fear was gone. I eventually started to like math and understand

it much better due to the fact that I had some excellent professors, tutors and supporting

classmates.

I completed math 119 with a B+, which was excellent for me knowing where I am

coming from. In the Fall 2020 I decided to take statistic, as I need this course to move

to the next level. This means a lot to me. In my opinion, statistics is a complex

and challenging math course. Even though it's been taught online I am expecting to do

extremely well in spite of the current circumstances around us. By attending college I

came to a realization of how mathematics is essential to our daily lives and refused to let

fear prevent me from achieving the wealth knowledge that is needed.