Diary
“Hey, did you forget already what I said last time? This is a bad shape, you obviously should have played here.”
“Did you mention this before? I don’t remember.”
“Come on. Just add some stones here, which do not matter, and see from this side.”
“Oh. Isn’t it a little different though?”
“Almost the same. Don’t miss it from now on, OK?”
“I will try.”
Can you imagine the scene? Yes. This conversation is what I often had with kids when I was teaching them. I guess you have similar experiences with your teachers or students, too. At the time, I thought the kids missed what I told them just because they didn’t try enough not to miss it. Everything was so clear to my eyes, and seemed quite easy.
Yet, as I studied Math these days, I was sort of regretting that I didn’t understand them better. When I study math formulas, I think they are not difficult, and I understand them. But if I try to solve some actual problems a few days later, it was not as easy as I expected. It felt as if so many formulas were jumbled together on my head and I couldn’t find out which one is which one. Besides, every problem looked similar but different at the same time. The problems must have been so clear and easy to good-at-math people’s eyes though.
Just short thought while studying Math……
Mathematics is like baduk. It is so enjoyable until You have to use your knowledge to solve some serious problem.
But, imagine someone knowing all corner sequences in baduk - that still is not enough to win a game. Same with math - knowing formulae is not enough to solve problems.
I sincerely hope You will overcome all problems and pass your exams well, because You know, all good mathematicians can be good baduk players and all good baduk players can be good mathematicians - if only they want to (and have enough time for it).
Don't worry, it will become easier with practice. A good teacher can explain the reasoning behind the methods and formulas, so it won't be such a pain to recognize the right one to use. But again, routine is what makes everything look easy and natural. When I was studying calculus, I made a card sheet with all methods and formulas that I needed to know. After solving many problems with the help of that sheet, I was able to quickly solve almost any problem without it. I am not sure what chapters of Calculus you are studying now but it may prove useful to have one such sheet for each type of problem, e.g. Limits, Derivatives, Integration, Systems of Differential Equations, etc.
Good luck with the study. Once you feel comfortable with the problems, Math is actually fun :)