I was the typical teenager who had no real interest in school, especially math class.
The only thing that I cared about was the latest cool thing and the next party.
At school I never had any interest in moving to a higher level of math or even to get top marks in my ‘dummies math classes’
At the time I was learning guitar with a really cool guy who was also a math tutor.
One day I got him to help me with a math problem, I was amazed at how he simplified it and made the math come alive, my grades started to improve and I became interested in knowing more.
With his continued help, by the end of that school year, my grades improved and my entire attitude changed towards school.
My tutor’s passion for math brushed off on me and he helped me believe in myself – that I could take on anything I set my mind to….even higher level mathematics.
One night I made a choice that would change my life forever. I chose to learn everything about Mathematics. Now this is saying something because my math was so basic I didn’t even know that there was 360 degrees in a circle, or how to find the area of a triangle. I had no idea what I was in for.
The next school year I ‘confidently’ walked into the two highest Mathematics classes available.
I remember my very first class, sitting amongst students (mainly boys) that had been working up to this level of math for years.
I sat there clueless and dumbfounded, as the teacher wrote on the classroom board about algorithms, theories and equations. I realize now how ignorant I was as to what lay ahead, I just had no idea…
For around the first two months I really struggled, most would have given up at the sight of getting nothing but 0% (I’m not kidding) for all their math tests.
My teachers didn’t encourage me either, they told me the math classes were designed for “smart people”, which didn’t include me. They suggested I “give up” and do something else but with my determined attitude and my stubbornness, I chose to continue on.
With support from my tutor, he simplified the math and taught me the secrets that no other student was familiar with, allowing me to complete complex math equations up to 10 minutes before anyone else in class. This left my teachers, who never believed in me, in shock.
If it had been left up to my teachers at school or any ordinary tutor teaching me, I would have dropped out, there is no way I could have got the grades I did if I didn’t have access to this information.
As my grades jumped to extraordinary levels my teachers were continually amazed and couldn’t believe how fast I picked up complex mathematical formula. And even more amazing, I (yes little old me) was helping some of the students in class who were struggling with some of the content.
In four months I literally went from 0% on my math tests to 90% and 100%. I went from absolutely no knowledge to being on the same level as students who have always excelled in their mathematics. I’ll never forget one of my teachers shaking his head and saying to me “I’ve never seen anything like it”.
I pushed on and continued to learn the secrets of mathematics from my tutor. In my final year at secondary school they allowed me to study Calculus and Applicable Mathematics, the highest math classes available at High School. I was in the top 5 students in the class throughout the year, and continually achieved some the highest of scores in the class.
The saddest thing I saw was many talented students dropping out of those math classes because it was too difficult. It wasn’t difficult (I did it), it was the way it was taught.
As Albert Einstein said, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." Don’t get me wrong I still had to study, but the methods I’ll show you here made the job faster and much, much simpler than what I was taught by my teachers in class.
This is why I decided to write this e-book, so other students can share the secrets I was taught by my tutor and gain the same benefits I did, and to get through those tough math questions without the struggle and pain. Math shouldn’t be for the elite, it should be open to everyone, and can be.
I’m now completing the final stages of a degree in pure Mathematics and Physics at University, in hope to one day, share the knowledge as passionately and as clearly as my math tutor did… and to inspire even those who think they could never do it. |