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Thinking About My Journey with Calculus: Initial Panic Attack to Learning Its Value in Business

I could remember how mathematics was once my most hated subject. Right now, it can be said most students hate mathematics. I complained about how hard it was. Again, mathematics is meant to be hard. No pain, no gain, right? However, I think I could point out how what's wrong with how math is taught or how math was taught. I was a graduate under the K+10 curriculum and the Philippines was left behind with K+12. It really makes Filipino students lack the skills that the other ASEAN countries had aside from lagging with the investment scale. I think about the biggest mistake with mathematics education today is how it's taught. Too much time is focused on studying the properties of numbers instead of teaching students that all mathematics is part of life. Another thing is students have the panic attack that if they don't do good with mathematics in high school--they will be forced to take "substandard courses" like Hotel and Restaurant Management. Yet, even the HRM course has raised its standards since they require good communication skills. The HRM department won't accept anyone if your English is below 80. That was a course I dreaded taking then later somehow regretted not taking it!

I think of the first time I was introduced to calculus. I had a panic attack and swore whoever invented it was out of his mind. It's a typical high school conversation (especially we had no middle school back then) with how "useless" the lessons are. Chemistry? Not everyone will be taking B.S. Chemistry or B.S. Chemical Engineering, right? Physics? What are we going to use for? Not everyone will become Astrophysicists. Yet, these subjects are to be learned because we need to learn the world around us. Mathematics and science are part of life even if we don't use them in the courses. Just imagine how boring it would be to be cooking food and you have no idea how science works. True, HRM students won't be doing chemistry computations in the kitchen. However, cooking is physics and chemistry at work. Instead of saying, "Go and take HRM if your grades in mathematics and science are not good!" It's best to say, "Try taking any commerce course and see how boring life is if you don't know mathematics and science." That's why I regret not liking them. It's because mathematics and science is helping me understand the sense of order today.

Calculus is one subject that seems "useless"--at first. I think the problem with calculus is that it's often associated with engineering. Yet, calculus has a broader application than trigonometry. I confess I hated trigonometry and nearly failed it taking my Associate in Computer Science course. Yet, trigonometry is everywhere and it's used to make sure the angle measurements in building a house are right. Back to calculus--the very study of calculus is all about the rates of change (differential) and summation of many small factors (integral). Calculus, which gave me an initial panic attack, is actually easier than I thought in contrast to the mathematics subjects dealing with physical structures. Though, calculus for engineering will totally obliterate me even if I can understand its uses.

After graduating my ACS course, I took business administration still weary but determined. Math 45 was described as business analysis. The course was part of the computer courses. It was practically my introduction to calculus. I admit, I was tempted to have a panic attack but the way it was taught in college was different from high school. Everything was focused on using calculus as part of life! My high school economics teacher was right! She was a woman pretty much like the late Miriam Defensor Santiago--a tiger teacher who was fierce for the good of her students! The course with calculus was actually more exciting than it was in high school. It was because I finally learned about profiteering.

A couple of subjects later were using calculus in operations management. I could remember the second calculus subject was still fun. However, the third calculus subject was fun in midterms but the finals hit me like a tidal wave. I wasn't aiming to be in the dean's list but I wanted to keep an 80% mark. It was my strategy to avoid repeating any subject whatsoever. It was so stressful in the finals that maybe I should've taken time off in the summer. Yet, I decided to take three math subjects in the summer--finance, calculus, and taxation. My head got messed up that I felt so insecure I threw a lesser tantrum in the midterm of the summer. It wasn't helping that I nearly revived an old grudge at that time. Though, I did get good grades but not good enough to brag about it. So what? I was on my way to make sure I would graduate within the five year mark! 

I ended up entering my MBA eventually in the same school after 2007. I felt the last calculus applied subject I had was not too much of a challenge. I guess it's because the fundamentals were there. Though, I still wonder how calculus accurately set up a table of values for quality management and finding bottlenecks. It makes me regret what I initially thought about calculus in high school. It makes me think of how many quality control systems were created also by calculus. The growth mindset is the way to approach math. Mathematical intelligence can be trained. Sure, I won't be able to handle engineering mathematics but mathematical intelligence is still a necessary force of life. 

References

"How is Calculus Used in Economics?"

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