Assignment 5 - Lauren Moore

Wherever I go, I experience the same stigma as all math professionals. “That’s hard”, “I hate math”, “Why? Math sucks.” These are only a few things I have been told once people realize what it is that I study. I have been trying for a long time to influence how people around me perceive math. In college I have worked with Mathskeller and MathExcel. In both of these organizations, I attempt to help people understand mathematics and why it’s useful. I have made a point to explain to certain students who have specific dislike of the subject how the problem they are currently working on would apply to their future field. All this does is help students understand what purpose math serves.

If we want to invest in math, we need to start having these conversations earlier. Not in high school or even middle school. By then, students have been told by teachers, parents, or friends that they are bad at math. There is also a negative stigma about being good at math filling the media. Being good at math makes you a nerd, thus some people choose not to be good at math. Removing this stigma will bring awareness to math.

From here, political leaders will see that the nation is interested in investing in math. They will hopefully take it a step further and invest in math programs. These programs will allow students to have the opportunity to experience what math can do outside of the classroom. This will encourage more students to enter a career in math.