So, I'm taking the SAT tomorrow... I've been doing some practice problems and realized that I have no idea what I'm doing. It's not like I'm a stupid person. I've never gotten anything lower than a B as my final grade, even in my math classes. I can figure the problems out if I know the process. But I just can't seem to retain the information of how to do every problem I've ever been taught. The formulas and little tricks and things just seem to disappear right out of my head the moment I stop needing it. Oh sure, I remember lots of things, like dividing polynomials, how to solve a quadratic function, and rise over run for the slope of a line. But I guess there are things I've forgotten too.
Take, for instance, one of the practice problems I was trying to do just a few minutes ago. "A 3 by 4 rectangle is inscribed in circle. What is the circumference of the circle?" I stared at it for a few moments, then exclaimed, "What does that even mean?!" I could understand the individual pieces of it, but when I tried to put it all together or make a formula out of it, I was completely lost.
Does this mean I'm really stupid? Do I lack skills that everyone else has? This is very scary for me. If I don't do well on this SAT, sure I can take it again, but I feel like there's not much I'm going to be able to do about this issue. I just don't have the capability to retain all that knowledge. And if I can never get a good score... Does that mean I won't be able to go to college? Will I not be able to get a good job or support my family?
I don't even want to work with math equations like these. The two career options I'm considering right now are creative writing and psychology. Math is not my strong point, and I don't want a future based around my weakness. But, with the SAT, is my future already based around my weakness?..
If any of you have any suggestion of ways I can fix this, please let me know. I'm going to go through the Khan Academy website for now and try to cram in anything that might be useful.
If you find the hypotenuse of the triangle within the rectangle (a^2 + b^2 = c^2 or in this case squareroot of 3^2 + 4^2 = 5) that will get you the diameter of the circle. Times that by pi and you're set. I never took the SAT's and have an MBA so don't stress too much. Also, no need to support a family...just marry a sugar daddy.
ReplyDeleteThank you. :)
DeleteYah... stop stressing. There's nothing that will destroy your ability to think and reason clearly like stress and fear. Just chill and do your best--it will be good enough in the end :-)
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