You can teach an old dog new tricks.  If you know me or have been reading for a bit now, you know that I was dreading this semester because I was at a point that I could no longer put off taking my required math courses.  Just to have the basic core math class required for a college degree I have to take 2 intro classes as prerequisites because I test so badly when it comes to math. So instead of just needing to take 1 math class and saying done, I get to endure it for at least 3 semesters.

Back when I was pursuing my bachelors degree at NAU as a doe eyed, fresh out of high school, first time away from home on my own college student, math was my nemesis.

Jessie and Jason Freshman Year at NAU 1997-1998

So much so that after having failed the intro to the intro math class (that my BAD SAT scores tested me into) a whopping 4 TIMES, I finally went to the counseling center and had a break down. They told me to go to a psychologist and get some learning disability testing done and THEN if the psych says I need extra help the college can provide me with some accommodations, which may even include removing the math requirement completely depending on my degree. (that last part, I found out later, had been a  load of hooey just to calm me down) So I went for 6 weeks of sessions with a psychologist and ended up with several alphabet soup labels I could use to my advantage, one of which was the DSM code of 315.1 for Dyscalculia.  Knowing that I was not just stupid but had a valid reason why I was having such a difficult time with math made me feel much better. I never realized all those years that I was literally transposing numbers but my brain was still seeing what I THOUGHT I had written. So I could be copying down a phone number of 480-382-0115 and written 408-382-0115 but be looking at the sheet of paper I wrote and SEEING 480-382-0115 or vice versa I would write something correctly and see it wrong(you all have NO clue how many times I just had to type that last sentence)–so one little transposition can totally screw up an entire math problem and if you get a math professor that grades on answers and answers alone (and does not look at overall concept knowledge-then you are pretty much screwed, will start hating yourself and drop out of college) Now there were many reasons that I ended up dropping out of college back then, so I don’t completely blame the math issues but since returning to school I have been putting off taking another math.

Fall 2011 was the semester in which I would truly be facing my demon…and taking my first full on  passing grade dependent credit required math class since receiving this diagnosis back in 2001. (This diagnosis has also been a big reason I have avoided taking my real estate exam. but that is another blog post completely)

After taking my math placement exam in summer of 2010 I knew that I still have to take what I lovingly referred to as the intro to the into to the math class I need and work my way up from there. So I still need 3 math classes to finish my associates degree.

I am happy to say that I now need only 2 more

Not only did I completely rock that math class- I never got lower then an A on any exam and I got a 99% on my final  - I walked out of class with an A.  I got an A in a math class.  The subject that I received my one and only F in high school in. I did it, and I will continue to do it for 2 more classes.

Thanks so much for all of your encouragement and support and love.