a story of math in modernity

I was never a math whiz. 

I passed math courses decently because I was motivated by a little red letter that appeared on homework and exams after the teacher saw them. I wanted that letter to be an A. (note bene: it's amazing how some kids are motivated by these letters. but let's not forget the kids who aren't.)

I didn't necessarily hate math, nor did I struggle with it. I simply never understood how higher math would apply to real life. The grocery store never says "Today we are selling x's for $20, and your total will be $82, so what is x?" And my bank would never say, "Hmm, we seem to have lost the number of deposits you made in March, but we have your February total and your April total, so can you figure out how much money you deposited?" (note bene: if your bank does ever says that to you, tell them $550,500, take the money, and leave!)

Granted, knowing math does help with physics, and I enjoyed elementary physics because there are the occasional physics problems in real life (ie--if it's snowing in October and I'm trying to turn left but that car is coming pretty fast, should I go or not go?).

Not until a few weeks ago was I grateful that my younger self was motivated by little red letters. While at work, I assigned myself the task of deciphering a complex incentive system to determine how much money we had given away through said incentives. 

During this process, I suddenly realized that I was doing algebra. 

Granted, in this real-life higher math, there were no x's or y's or even pi's. There were, however, unknown numbers and I was finding them quite successfully. So successfully, in fact, that I corrected numbers from the previous four years with the simple equation I had developed. 

So while I will never become a math whiz, I have a new appreciation for the language of numbers in everyday life. (note bene--I will confess that the use of an Excel spreadsheet assisted with this newfound enthusiasm)