From Failure to Success

(Confessions of a former Mathematical failure)

Math has never been my best subject. From primary school straight up to college I struggled with Math. In fact during my college years I struggled with math so much that I honestly thought it would be the one subject that would keep me from getting my college degree. Yes it was that bad. Every other subject I could pass with pretty decent grades but oh boy, that Math!

After I passed my college prep Math *big sigh of relief* it was time to face the dreaded Math 140. I struggled through getting a few good grades, a few bad grades but I thought it would balance out in the end. Unfortunately, midterm changed all that.

When I got my Midterm Exam back there it was, the big red letter that no student ever wants to see. That day just happened to be the last day to drop a subject without academic penalty. I knew that I could not recover from that failing grade since that test was worth about 25% of my entire course grade. Also, I couldn’t afford to mess up my grade point average so I did what I had to do. I went directly to the business office and dropped the subject.

I decided to do Math 140 during a summer semester. It was a shorter period of time but by doing it alone I thought I’d find it a little easier and a little less threatening. I was wrong! I found it just as difficult this time around. But I was determined to pass the course. I went to peer tutoring, I went to my lecturer’s office hours and I spent hours and hours struggling to work out problems on my own. However, I still had the fear that I would fail the subject.

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. Daniel 1:17

A friend who knew about my battle with Math sent me the above Bible verse. I committed the verse to memory and every time I felt uncertain I’d repeat it to myself. I reminded myself that if God could give Daniel and his friends, knowledge and understanding in all subjects then surely giving me the ability to understand Math wasn’t an impossible task. Fortunately it wasn’t. I won’t say that Math suddenly began easy to me but I was able to pass it with a B (I’d only been praying for a C).

There it is, one of my most embarrassing stories. But I hope it encourages you to just keep at it even when it doesn’t seem like you’re doing as well as you would like to in school or in life. You’ll succeed it you keep trying, trust God and never give up. Remember though, faith without works is dead. It is unrealistic to say that you’re trusting God to help you if you’re unwilling to put in the extra time to accomplish your goals.


I thought I'd post this article from the Sept/Nov issue of Girl Talk to encourage those of you who are studying for end of term exams. Happy studying :)