Stardust97

Bio

I'm (1997-Present) a musician, college student, and sometimes-artist living in the greater Seattle area. I play violin, viola, and piano, and I occasionally compose. I find languages fascinating, and as a college student, I am studying to become an interpreter in German and Italian. I have a cat named Raleigh, and I have synesthesia, which are two very different things but are both major parts of my life. When I'm not working on music, my hobbies include skiing, reading (my favorite genre is fantasy), and a casual study of mycology.

A Time When I Learned to Like Something

(My Winter 2018 English class required this subject as an assignment)

Before attending college, I really disliked algebra. Although math as a general subject was fairly easy for me, algebra seemed like a confusing and unnecessary addition with both no rules and too many rules all at once. Throughout high school, I struggled to gain a basic understanding of it. Once I reached college however, I began by taking two sequential algebra classes from teachers who patiently and clearly explained how algebra worked. The most helpful aspect for me was learning new steps by building on what I had already learned. This connected the new reasoning, and helped me understand where each problem was coming from. By the time I had completed the courses, I could sincerely say I had learned to like algebra because now I understood it and was successful at it. Eventually I was able to branch out into a statistics-oriented math class, which was one of my favorite classes.

Changing my mind about algebra was caused by having helpful instruction that helped me gain understanding. In the future when I have other things I may not initially like, I hope to approach them knowing that I may come to like them through time or different circumstances.