1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
Popular belief says that Math is hard. It seemed to be only for the very smart. If there is one subject someone disliked it had to be either Math or Physics(which is pretty much still math). In the past, I use to contribute to that belief. Although I was good at it, I disliked math. I felt it was just a game of numbers. While studying it, I used to wonder when I would ever need to find a point on an imaginary plane. This was, of course, until I discovered it's beauty. It was until I discovered Calculus.
Being an honor student, I was given the opportunity to study AP Calculus. I came into the class with a mindset that it was difficult but I needed to get it done with. The first part prevailed but the second part was rather laborious. I got Cs & Ds in many of my assessments and I accepted, at the time, that Math wasn't really for me.
There was this one class where we were learning about 'Solids of Revolutions', where we can utilize integration to discover the volume of a solid around a particular axis. It was then, when our teacher, Mr. Ultan, instructed us to rotate a triangle around the x-axis and derive an expression. I followed and derived 1/3pi r^2 h. If you don't recognize it, it is the formula for the volume of a cone. I've been using this formula for years but for the very first time, I understood where it came from. For the very first time, I understood Mathematics. From then on, I started learning more about Calculus, no longer to improve my grade but solely to understand this magic we call Calculus.
In the final two months of the exam, I felt I have endowed a weapon, a tool that could answer many questions. I became adept at this language called Calculus.
Anyways, I took part in our school's Math Competition. Our team was feared most due to the members it entailed. I was able to answer some questions but the majority of them were answered by my teammate Jaewoo. We cruised to victory and ended up competing against teachers, which we also cruised. In the end, I experienced collaborating with others and understanding the capabilities of others, which at times may exceed my own. It was a great event.
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