Although I was required to take math in high school, my interest was sparked in the topic because I’d like to pursue a career that involves mathematics, like an engineer or an accountant. Also, math has just come more naturally to me because it’s logical and makes sense in the world. Math is built on a solid foundation and it’s straightforward. There are also plenty of applications for math in the real world, such as providing critical thinking skills and even helping you with taxes in the future. With such an important topic to learn, I decided to rank the top math classes I’ve taken in high school.
My favorite math course which I’m taking right now for my senior year is Calculus. It’s challenging, and I find enjoyment in taking the time to learn and develop the skills to overcome the obstacles encountered during the course. It’s a class that throws difficult concepts and problems at its students, but Mr. Ring or Ms. Nelson, who are the calculus teachers, always host sessions after school to provide extra tutoring for students. While the class is difficult, there’s a sense of gratification after developing an understanding of a concept or passing a test. And from personal experience, I’ve had to retake quite a few tests and it’s always stressful studying for the day of the retake, but satisfying at the same time to see the efforts pay off.
My second favorite math course would be A2PC, which I took during my junior year with Ms. Liang, who is sadly no longer a teacher at Galileo. This was a class that sped through topics very quickly, moving at a fast pace because of the nature of the class, combining two courses into one. Students were expected to learn from the Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube or get other sources of help outside of class if they didn’t understand the material. Despite the fast nature of the class, it was a fulfilling experience for me as I had a supportive teacher who also stayed after school to tutor students and laid out the foundation for calculus. One of the biggest things you can learn from A2PC is the unit circle as it will lay the foundation for calculus in a way and also allow you to breeze through pre-calculus more easily.
One other notable course that I took was Statistics, which I took during the summer after junior year at Canada College. It was an online course with lots of work crammed into a few short weeks, which meant that the workload was usually around two to three assignments a day if not more to meet the due date each week. The instructor, Mr. Raymond Lapuz, responded to his emails fairly quickly and gave out extra credit for practice assignments he would post and would also post videos to YouTube going over problems and concepts. Also, just because it’s an online course doesn’t mean I could slack off, the midterm and final exams are timed with security measures to prevent cheating. To study, I went over past assignments and reviewed the questions on his practice assignments as well as the online textbook. If I were to give advice, it’s a good idea to do the practice assignments both to prepare for the exams and to possibly tank any hits to your grade in the event that you do badly on the exams. Overall, I’d rank statistics as my third favorite math course.
I also took Algebra I and Geometry like every freshman and sophomore, but it wasn’t as fun or challenging. They weren’t necessarily complex to comprehend and the homework didn’t take much time, and the classes were more slow-paced. When I compare these courses with my three favorite math classes, I would say that these subjects were more calm and relaxed. They were basically free periods when the work was done. Since they weren’t challenging, I didn’t really get anything out of them.
