This person wants to study and learn but also enjoy studying.

Hello,

Math can be a very strenuous subject for a lot of people. Take some comfort in knowing that you are definitely not alone in your struggle, and be proud of yourself that you have the courage and honesty to accept that you need help. Asking for help is not a universal experience, as much as it should be, and 99% of the time, it is better to ask for help a little late than to never ask at all. I encourage you to keep at it.

Now, let's get into the advice part of this. I, too, struggled with math at times; I've always been partial to English and history, myself. But, the teachers are right when they say that math never truly goes away, even though you have a calculator in your back pocket. Math is part of the world, as much as some people might wish otherwise, and so rather than ignoring it or trying to fight it, make it work for you. Think of math, not as a boring, stressful, difficult concept, and instead look at it as a puzzle to be solved. There is an end goal just waiting to be found, and you have the tools and the map to find it. When you are studying the formulas, think of them as tools to reach your goal. Make it personal, and more importantly, make it a game. That made all the difference for me when I was in a position similar to yours. Now, a change of mindset doesn't fix everything as much as I'm sure we'd all like, but it does make working at it a whole lot easier. You see, humans are often stubborn, pleasure-driven creatures. We have a real hard time doing things we don't want to do, not because the task at hand is necessarily difficult, but because it doesn't scratch that itch in our brains for pleasure and fun. We thrive on fun. Play. And so even if math isn't exactly your strong suit, turning it from an obligatory task to a challenging game makes it easier to work through.

Another trick that helped me was working with a friend. My friend and I would get together between classes, or at lunch, and especially after school and we would do our homework together, and go over the information from class that day with each other so that we both understood what we were learning and could bounce questions off of each other. It was very helpful for both of us to be able to ask our questions and make mistakes without feeling silly about them, and having someone else right there to consult when we got to a difficult equation or couldn't see where our work went wrong made a great deal of difference. Refreshing ourselves with the information we'd just learned in class that day with someone else also helped us to understand it better, especially when things were going too fast in class. It also helped us to make up our own equations and test each other so that we could understand how the questions were built, see how they were solved, and to walk through them ourselves to make sure the other person got the right answer. It's all about practice! It doesn't always make perfect, but it does make a difference. Practice makes improvement, not perfect.

These suggestions may sound like a lot of work, but ultimately that is what it takes to improve at a skill you struggle in: a lot of work. It's not so much "study more" or "try harder" or "pay attention in class" as it is "put in the effort you need to put in to succeed" and "find a method to help you better absorb the information you learn in class" and "ask for help where and when you need it". It's not an easy task, but it is important, and if you can learn how to work your brain now, you'll have a much easier time doing it later on in life. I hope this helps, love. I know you can do it, and I know you are capable of reaching your goals. What's important is setting attainable goals and putting in the effort to achieve them. Good luck, dear!

Stay strong,

The Advice Column Team