Comment by aidenn0
4 hours ago
I was also one of those kids.
Some of it was diagnosed ADHD (I was on Ritalin; I couldn't tell the difference, but my mom said it was huge; on almost every day I forgot to take it she would get a call from the school about my behavior), but much of it is something I still can't explain to this day.
I was a voracious reader, but if the book was assigned for school, I wouldn't read it.
Science was usually my best subject, but my personality clashed with my 5th grade teacher, so I spent one quarter of 5th grade just not doing it at all. As in when it was time for science, I read a book I had brought from home instead of participating. I did absolutely no work. I didn't even turn in the homework and I handed in blank pages for the in-class work. I received a D (the lowest passing grade) for that quarter, which rather confused me.
For 7th grade, I tested into Algebra, but at the time a teacher recommendation was also needed, and my 6th grade teacher declined to do so. I got a D in pre-algebra, with a B+ test-average being pulled down by my homework (or lack of it). I did however teach myself lock raking with a 5-pin lock that was on the file-cabinet in the back of the class.
I had the flu when I took the SATs so got what was (for me) a poor score. My guidance counselor told me that there was no need to retake, as no schools that wanted a higher SAT would take me with my GPA as low as it was.
It took me 11 semesters and two summer sessions to finish college with a 2.2 GPA.
Oh man did I hate math up until algebra. It just seems like pointless memorization and rote work. Then with algebra suddenly I could see applications. "I can actually solve problems with this" and my grades went from Cs to As immediately.
I still remember the test I took in 7th grade to qualify to take algebra in 8th grade. For reasons I don't understand I was in a panic for nearly the entire test. My hands were shaking. I don't think I even finished it. Yet somehow I passed it and that was a turning point in actually starting to like math for me.
I'm there with you on seeing applications, but I never could bring myself to do math homework. Even today, I don't think I would even though I am 100% certain that doing practice problems is of huge benefit (every moment you're thinking about the mechanics of doing the math, you're not thinking about solving the problem that you're doing the math for).
I eventually hit a wall with both ordinary differential equations and vector calculus[1], which forced me to switch from Physics to CS.
1: And I thought vector calculus was the coolest thing ever; you can use Gauss's theorem to derive Archimedes's Principle from integrating the partial-pressures over an arbitrary shape, which is one of the most elegant things I've ever seen.