Problem sums

I have always hated maths. The simple reason is, I’m not very good at it. Numbers swim in my head when I see them. Fractions do a jiggle, equations do a squiggle. And problem sums... Ah... don’t even get me started on those. I was already pushing myself to the limit in kindergarten with addition and subtraction and then real school happened and along came those wretched, problematic ‘sums’!

Grade 1:
“Lucy has 100 balloons. 20 are red, 50 are Yellow. How many are blue?”
Me: Who’s Lucy and why does she have so many balloons? Is it her birthday? Why am I not invited!?

Grade 10:
“A die is rolled and a coin is tossed, find the probability that the die shows an odd number and the coin shows a head.”
Me: Wait what?! This makes no sense. Can the tossed coin just hit me on the head already so I can die and not have to solve this?

Do you see my predicament?

It would then, only take a ginormous idiot, to willingly choose mathematics as a college major.

So I did.

I was young, naive and rebellious. In getting out of my family’s wish of pre-medical, I landed myself in pre-engineering.

My problem was, I was artistically inclined. Unfortunately for me though, I was too good a student to justify majoring in it. Back in the 90s those things didn’t go together.
Good student = Doctor/Engineer/IT.
Bad student = Arts/Commerce/Others

My first year math exam was exactly what nightmares are made of. In fact, I still wake up sweating every time I dream of that room, the question paper and my blank mind that grappled desperately to solve it.
Although I knew chances were bleak, but I still attempted every question in hopes of passing on sheer effort. And then I prayed day and night for the impossible.
To me, it was nothing short of a miracle when I scraped through, by just a few marks!

As luck would have it, I ended up applying for architecture in the university that offered me a place for electrical engineering. There, I found my artistic side come alive. I thrived in the design filled environment enriched with beautiful spaces. I could finally say goodbye to math and my mammoth fear of it and live happily ever after.

Or so I thought.

In real life, I have discovered, stories don’t really end that way; The happily ever afters.

As I’m growing older, I can see the world for what it is. A giant question paper, full of the craziest, the saddest and the most problematic ‘problem sums’.
I have mine and I’m sure you have yours.

1. Jeem sings. 1000 people like her but 1/1000 doesn’t, so her music is stopped. What fraction of people should dislike her so her songs could be heard again?

2. A person is black. Another is White. The latter insults the former. Calculate the correct ratio of white to black, for one to be respected?

3. A woman is unhappy. She unloads 25% of it on people she meets to feel 50% satisfied with herself. What percentage of happiness does she need to be 100% kind?

You see what I’m saying?
Confounding, confusing, crippling Sums!

What to do then you ask?
(Hold tight because this Meme page is about to impart some solid life advice.)

“Do SOMETHING! ANYTHING!
Don’t just sit there staring at the question paper!
Act! Move! Initiate! Proceed!
Take active steps to solve the sum of your problems.
Even if you don’t know what you are doing, keep doing it.
The right ideas will eventually find their way in your head.
And the answers, I promise, will follow.”
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P.S: This advice is a copyright of Noonmeme’s. You will NOT find it in any self help book. Especially one called “The subtle art of not giving a Fu**”.

P.P.S: Ok. Maybe it’s a bit borrowed. Like 3/4 of it. You know...ummm... 85%? 😬👀🤷🏻‍♀️