Two and two equal five
I have a minor in mathematics, but you wouldn’t know it. Basic algebra is about the only thing I can still do without consulting references. I was great at arithmetic until I learned calculus (which is funny: most everyone I talk to has the same experience). Over the last few years, I’ve forgotten pretty much all of the calculus, too.
Math has lately been on my mind because I’ve been programming a little side project; work-related but far from a product-in-development, I’m mostly doing it to satisfy my curiosity. In any case, it’s required that I bend my brain around some geometry and matrix manipulations—and even a little calculus—that I haven’t otherwise touched in a long time. It’s a lot more interesting than I remember.
I make no secret that I’m not particularly proud of my degree; there are some good faculty in that department, but as a body they have political problems that—at least while I was there—kept them from developing an effective curriculum. It makes me curious now: if I had attended a college with more rigorous coursework, would I have wanted the mathematics minor more for an interest in the material than out of desire to avoid an internship requirement?
