People often assume that folx who study math don't struggle with it, but for me, math is a struggle.

For #BlackInMathWeek #MyBlackMathJourney, I submit to you all a selection of math and stats classes that served as inflection points in my life (pun intended). A thread/

Algebra I, the class that taught me that no matter how hard I tried, I could and would always take Ls. Coming out of middle school, Algebra I was the hardest class I had taken, but it taught me to be patient with myself and the process of finding the answer.

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Algebra II fundamentally made me feel, for the first time ever, that math was within my grasp.

I understood what was happening and why. I asked questions without shame. It is the class that began my love affair with math and empowered me to tell stories with numbers.

3/

Not pure maths, but Applied Statistics was the class that made sense of the madness.

For the first time, I finally understood why functions were important and connected to the real world. I took it with econometrics, which reaffirmed those realizations #EconTwitter.

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Real Analysis was everything and nothing. When I found out that 1+1=0, I was literally dumbfounded.

Taking Real made me realize that in order to justify our what, we have to explain our why every step of the way. After every class, I felt like this:

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Between struggling through classes, being dismissed by teachers, asking thousands of questions, and weathering the wild exams alongside my peers, I wouldn't trade #MyBlackMathJourney for the world #ILookLikeAMathematician #BlackinMathWeek.

6/6

Almost forgot, Calculus II, egregious computation and long long hours. I took exam once and forgot everything. But it was in that class that I heard the phrase that changed everything for me:

Math is the elephant that sits in every room

- Ms. Bonny Tighe

7/6

Ultimately, there is no such thing as being a "math person". We are all math people because all math requires is patience, perseverance, and humility.

Take it from someone who believed that it wasn't for her and believed I wasn't a math person:

Math is for everybody.

8/6

The photo of me in my dope kente jacket inspired @Blackmudpuppy cartoon and was taken by none other than @TosinShotit.

Also, please know that I've always naturally gravitated towards the humanities, especially reading and writing.

I never in one million and one years did I expect to graduate with a math degree. What made the difference for me was educators. More on that tomorrow.

9/6

my grammar ain't grammaring lol

I was made just aware by @appyjumpindaze that there are people who have math disabilities in reference to my comment that "we all can do math", and I just want to amplify the tweet that makes clear what that is and ensures that all people are seen. https://twitter.com/appyjumpindaze/status/1326543180465016841?s=20