Why Do I Hate Mathematics?

By: Joshua A. Apolonio

Most of the time, I ask myself, “Why do I hate Mathematics?” Is it because of its characteristics? Is it because of its confusing formulas and equations? Or is it because I need to memorize all of them just to understand the true meaning of Math? I think those questions will have their same answers and it will be “Yes”! First of all, what do we really mean by Mathematics? My own perception for this field of study is that they are just "combination of numbers" with different operations like those of the plus, minus, divide, and times. But, when I asked my mother regarding this topic, she told me that it is a science of numbers and their operations, interrelations, combinations, generalizations, and abstractions and of space configurations and their structure, measurement, transformations, and generalizations. Then I said,
“What?” Actually, I did not really understand what my mother has said, so I just disregarded the topic.

Most students, like me, do not really understand that field of study. Whenever I look at those four fundamental operations, I just think that where will I use the other branches of Math, like Geometry and Algebra? When I grew older and have graduated my course, I might ask, in what situation can I use the different fields of Math? Usually, I only use Math when adding or subtracting, sometimes multiplying and dividing, too. Where will I use the different formulas given by my Math Professor? I really do not know.

My past subjects that involved Math, like College Algebra and Plane Trigonometry, had finished with a final rating of a very low grade. It just means that I am not proficient in terms of Mathematics. I really cannot get what my textbook tells me.

Is Mathematics really important? Maybe it will be yes. It is important for other persons whose field of study is Math, like those of the engineers who measure different angles, the teachers whose major is Math and, of course, the Mathematicians. Math is important because without this I might not be able to compute numbers and other facts which are related to numbers.

So now, let us answer the question, “Why do I hate Mathematics?” I can answer this question because I am the hater. Maybe I would say that I hate Mathematics because any kind of study I do, I really cannot get what Math is. But, is it a valid reason to hate Math? Another reason for hating Math is that I am not able to memorize all the different kinds of terms given by Math or maybe because it is not my field of study that’s why I can’t understand it. Is it now valid? It may be. It is really complicated to memorize different kinds of Mathematical equations. And another reason I might give on hating Math, I am not able to study it well because I feel a little bit lazy doing it. Yes! That’s the real reason behind that only one question. Laziness is the answer and the reason hating Math. But, should it be done by students? Should students think that they should not study Math because it’s not their field of study? Well, I think it is not necessary for students to be lazy on studying the subject. Students should also think that they can use Math and its branches soon, but in a different situation. We should not hate Math. Instead, we should try to love Math and we should try to remember its importance.