I have a twin brother who had a very similar start to math as I did; we both absolutely sucked at it at first (referring to math more than just talking about what a fraction is or decimals, so essentially an entry into Algebra). Since then, we have diverged on two different roads that proves to be a perfect example of where attitude and math can lead.
Middle school was about where my school unit began to show different level math classes; there was a lower level math class, a middle level, and an upper level. This is where effort first altered fate, where in our exam that would determine where we land, I tried a little harder than my brother, but we both tested into the same level of math, except he decided he should be in a lower level.
I never thought I was good at math and still don't think I'm great at it, but effort truly made a difference from this point on; even though I was in a higher level math class and of what was probably very literally the same intelligence level as my brother, I excelled in my class, and my brother struggled with the lower class.
This trend continued through high school, where we started off with a clean slate and were placed into the same level of math (Algebra 1). He failed the class by half a point and I passed with a B.
Failing by half a point, I think, is what truly lit a fire in my brother to begin putting a bit more effort into math. Having to retake a class in high school while his twin brother was moving on probably wasn't the greatest feeling, and so he quickly caught himself back up to me through geometry and algebra 2, where he finished just points behind me and receiving an A.
Sadly though, his experience with math for the majority of his years as a student plagued him into calling it quits there; he was no longer required to take math, and so he took a class that simply reviewed the lessons learned from previous years, while I took AP Statistics. Come college, he'd attempt to take statistics and to my surprise, fail, and I'd find myself taking the most math intensive major available at my school.
We're two different people with different interests, but I think that if he had a better experience with math earlier on, where he got into a higher level math class or felt as though he was capable of understanding it from an earlier time, perhaps he'd have a much better time wrestling with math. By all means, he's very capable, and an understanding of upper level math would probably be very helpful to him in his chosen fields of law enforcement and forensic psychology, but the effort doesn't seem to be worth it to him.
Since he's no longer required to take math, this is probably his end point with it, whereas my point is apparently a limit and therefore I seemingly can't surpass it, though I can get pretty close to never encountering math again.
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