Personal Statement

“Caleb, get down here and do these math practice sheets I printed out”.  This is what I heard nightly from my dad from 6th to 8th grade. After hours of sitting at the dining room table completing homework, I would quickly scurry upstairs to my room for a break.  Inevitably, just about every night, my dad would call me back down to the dining room table to complete practice math problems. At that time I thought he was being cruel and mean. Now as a Junior at Gary Comer College Prep with a B in Algebra 2, I finally understand why he did what he did.

Growing up I always struggled with understanding math concepts. For some odd reason, math was very challenging for me. It  was like a foreign language. I could never quite grasp how to solve complex problems, especially those algebra problems. Math problems are not suppose to have letters in them.  

Until my Junior year in high school, I had never been able to maintain more than a C average in my math classes.  After graduating 8th grade, I attended DeLaSalle Institute. My Freshman Algebra class started out great. Mr. Villa was an amazing math teacher. He made learning math fun.  I just knew i was on my way to my first A in math. By the end of my first semester, I was actually getting an B. Mr. Villa warned me that the concepts would get harder and he was right!  I barely passed 2nd semester, only earning a low D. I was bummed and felt defeated. My sophomore year was worse, I failed Geometry.

My parents were baffled and so was I.  We could not figure out how I could pass my other courses, but fail math...miserably.  It did not help that my dad was a math whiz and expected me love and learn math just like him.  Needless to say, I had to spend the summer after my sophomore year in summer school. I was not happy, especially since i had to pass up a summer job to retake Geometry.  I achieved an A summer school. Little did i know, summer school would be the beginning my rise to math stardom.

That fall I entered  my Junior year at Gary Comer College Prep. I was put in an Algebra 2 math class.  I was still pretty proud of myself for achieving the A in summer school, but the math anxiety I use to experience was beginning to come back. I was not going to be defeated, I was determined to stay motivated.  I began to recall what my dad use to tell me. He would say, “If you practice everyday your math grade will shoot up”. Not only did I take his advice, I also took advantage of the support and office hours provided by my teachers.

After years of anxiety and suffering, I had finally earned my first A in math!! I accomplished a big goal I had  been striving for since 6th grade. I’ve never received A or B in math...NEVER. When I saw that A on my report, I felt proud and motivated.  I could not wait to get home to share the good news with my dad. He was beaming with pride when he laid his eyes on A in Algebra 2. I could see it in his eyes.  He then said, “See, all those long nights paid off and that A was your reward”.

Do not get me wrong, math is hard.  I still sometimes struggle with the concepts and get frustrated.  But after overcoming my anxiety and realizing that hard work, determination and office hours really makes a difference, math is now my favorite subject.  Hard to believe after the years of struggle. Achieving the A in math has now motivated me to put forth the same effort in all of my other classed. My new goal, straight A’s in all my classes!!!