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I'm a B student in math, have always been. But last year, I was incredibly lazy at school, barely scraping a 65% in math at the end of the year. In grade 10, math classes are separated into two:

Principles of Mathematics 10, 11, 12
For the smart people, like me, who don't necessarily shine in math, but are still good. Required for university.

Application of Mathematics 10, 11, 12
For the stupid people, who would most definately fail the other class. You can't go to uni with this.

Now since I did so terribly last year, I was recommended for Application. At first I was all "Seriously, easier math? I'M IN HEAVEN YAY!!!" I thought it'd be great, I wouldn't have to stress myself doing hours of homework, since it'd be dead easy.
What I didn't know was that Principles, not Application, is required for university. I only realised this when it was too late to switch. At first, I didn't think it was a big deal, easy math, right?

This is where I really was stupid. Now I'm stuck with the idiot class, obviously doing way better than the others. People in Principles wonder why the hell I'm not in their class. One of my friend's parents was bewildered.

My only solution left is summer school. I've heard than summer math is brutal, since you're cramming a whole year into a month. But I'm willing to do it if it means being in math principles 11 next year.
So now I'm all worried that I might fail summer school and be stuck in the idiot class again...

Are you kidding?

First of all, it's definitely, you stupid person. Gee, how did you pass spelling, making an amateur mistake like that? Maybe you should be in the "idiot class" for English instead.

Second of all, what in the world does math have to do with intelligence? Math is nothing but an overly complex series of theoretical hogwash and nonsense. It's basically trade work; only a select few people will ever use most of the arithmetic they learn following fifth or sixth grade. The hugest buffoons I know of are the ones that struggle with and stress themselves over stuff they'll never need to know unless they're going into a field specifically geared to that skill set. If you like math, fine, have at it. There's nothing stupid about someone who can't comprehend something that's not only heavily abstract but also completely unnecessary. Most people don't indulge in the motivation to learn about unnecessary things. I made an F in Algebra II, first because I didn't care, and second because I didn't get it. That's not a reflection of intellect, it's merely proof that I don't learn if I don't care, and if I don't care it's because I don't feel compelled to.

Thirdly, a university is but a deliberate escapade, a simple money-gobbling organization parading itself as prestigious. Idiots get into universities as easily as geniuses: all you need is a fat wallet and the rather magniloquent desire to appear fine in the eyes of society. That's not to say there isn't any value whatsoever to be found in attending the university, but don't delude yourself into thinking it's anything more than a school. It will, by default, teach you academics, which are far and wide the most useless kinds of tools you'll ever be supplied with. A degree is a trophy, something you show off at parties (if you're ever lucky enough to get invited) and as quickly stuff back into your pillow case or wherever you choose to treasure it as though it has some shred of actual value and would not be just as worthy itself lying in a shredded heap on the floor. It's not going to assure you a fair living, much less educate you on how to create one for yourself, and it isn't going to make you any less pretentious or more likable. Continue to display that sort of elitist attitude and you'll find yourself amongst the wrongest of crowds in very short order.

With that, I hope you are triumphant in attending summer school or in following whatever choice route to the shallow "success" you pander after. As the kind Belle reminds a lowly Ebenezer Scrooge before she tosses her ring at him in a fit of flustered humiliation and pride: I hope your "money" will bring you all the comfort you need right through to your old age (wherein money is a clear symbolic reference to the choleric ostentation of the upper class, not solely of economic stature but also of mentality, for someone can as easily be sick with greed and selfishness and a bloated self-image without the prerequisite of a full pocket or a grand house).

Alas, an ashamed Algebra failure such as myself is likely not of high enough intellectual standing to make such a daring and disagreeable evaluation of society. Imagine, someone who can't fill out a paper test with the right answers to irreverent questions about imaginary figures and equations actually expressing more than half-witted grunts and snorts. Laughable, isn't it?

Rain/Eli ♥

(baaaahhh typos... how shameful, English is one of my best subjects! D:)
I was just generalising, being lazy, with the whole "stupid/smart" thing. I never meant to insult anybody's intelligence, though I can see where you're coming from. I apologise for that.

I know perfectly well that maths doesn't equal intelligence. I do believe that all the abstract aspects of it are completely useless, save for a couple of careers. However, I still want to take the courses, to keep my options open. I don't want to have to take high school classes in college because I need xxx later on. I'm hoping to study a field of science or medicine, both of which require those incredibly useless maths. I just see those things as unevitable hurdles.
My other plan, dream more like, is to go to a conservatory and try my luck as a concert pianist, get a chance to really master my instrument. But the odds of success are so slim, what with all those crazy prodigies out there. I dunno if I'd be able to handle the pressure, the constant competition to be the absolute best. I don't think of it as giving up on a dream though, I'm just being realistic. A degree from a music school won't guarantee a living either. What exactly can one do with a music degree?

The only thing I find interesting is teaching. I don't have any real experience with it, so I wouldn't know if I have what it takes. One of my assignments for music class at school is to teach one of my classmates how to play piano. It's been fun so far, and I can finally understand that feeling of pride, seeing your student progress... It's hard to explain. Maybe it's just cause I happen to be head-over-heels for him..............but that's a different story.
If I decide to become a piano teacher, I definately won't have to worry about math. And I'd be able to keep my piano skills polished, maybe even enjoy teaching once I learn how to do it?
(but then I remember my music teacher at school, who hardly gets any sleep from her job. Hopefully, I wouldn't be THAT busy....)

I've always loved hearing your insight on things, your words really make people think. You've helped open my mind a bit, but I still feel that I should do my best in school. What bad could it do?

By the way, what's YOUR definition of success?

@ Cheri: In my opinion, I think you should always do your absolute best, be it math, or whatever. If it is required that you go to summer school to get where you want to get, go for it. If you work hard, it will pay off.

@ Rain: You need math in almost every career that the world has to offer. Be it a cashier or a doctor or an engineer. If you just stop caring and flunk all of your math classes, you won't be getting very far in life. As for universities, you need them too. I agree, that having a fat wallet certainly does no harm to getting into one, but they won't accept you if you know nothing more than 6th grade math. It's the same for anything. I won't be using American History in my life almost at all, so why do I even bother to learn it? I won't be using my knowledge of life sciences at all, so why should I even go to school at all? You are a very smart person by nature, the majority of society is stupid and numb (although that may have just as much to do with the school system, but thats another discussion). you may not need a university to get where you want to go in life, but most other people do.

Again for Cheri, I wish you luck in all that you do.

Snowy

@ Cheri: Of course you have to understand that the entire ramble was an exercise in sarcastic retrospection. Everything from the tone to the inflection was carefully sketched and executed. The words are the truth (at least as far as I can condone it under my own authority as a fallible human being), but the rest of the sample is simply meant to tease you. ;]

@ Snowy: You didn't read what I said, and you're wrong. What I said was that:

There are plenty of career fields that use very little to no conscious math whatsoever. I agree that there is a subliminal level of inward "math" that all people exercise on a daily basis as humans, but that's like saying you have to take a class in English in order to speak the language. Most people learn English (or whatever their domestic language may be) at home, mimicking their parents. You don't have to understand the complex and often superfluous grammar rules and vocabulary if your innate comprehension of the language already includes that in your subconscious. In the same way, most people will never need math beyond what is generally taught in fifth or sixth grade, if they even need that. My parents are BOTH teachers, and neither of them can do Algebra past basic operations. When they were in school, they never learned it. They never needed to. They each went to universities and got degrees, and they're both as smart as anything, but ask them to calculate the density of a given object using the immediate measurements at hand and a great deal of probable estimation- they'll look at you like you're stupid.

Also, universities will accept anyone who has money. It's that simple. My brother made a D in physics (I believe), which is less than the minimum grade of C he needed to be accepted to Humboldt State University; they were low on seats, so they accepted him anyway. They needed the money. George W. Bush was a straight C student and he got accepted to one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Why? Because he's a Bush. Name and pocket are what matters first and foremost to these kinds of institutions. Even its own deluded construct known as "education" is always second to profit in the school system.

And why do you learn those things? You ask that question rhetorically, but I'd like to respond by making it a serious statement. If you don't need the knowledge, you either learn it because you want to or because you feel it's necessary. But that's simply your opinion. To be certain, subjects such as History (not so much the sciences) do have a practical application that everyone can partake in regardless of what field they go into. I feel that it's important to understand our past so that we can better prepare for the future. There's two inherent issues with this argument, however:
when applied to the school system, it's a confused remark because text book History is VERY different from what really happened. It's not only watered down, much of it is blatant lying or cheeky cover-ups. If you ever get the chance, read A People's History of America- that is, if you have an interest in learning from an at least semi-accurate and altruistic source material. Plus, all that being said, as I've pointed out it's pointless to force people to learn a subject when they have no personal motivation; they don't care and they flunk because of it. Not only that, but schools use some of the worst educational methods known: lectures have been proven repeatedly in various studies to be the LEAST EFFECTIVE means of teaching a person, much less a room full of anxious adolescents or near-adolescents with the combined attention span of a chattering mouse on fumes.

Lastly, I'm no smarter or dumber than anybody else. Don't pin my success on some imaginary birthright: I'm going to be successful in life with or without school because that's what I've set my sights on. I'm determined and I believe in myself. That's all it takes to make a difference. If I seem intelligent, it's because I've taken the time to mold my views and philosophies rather than wasting away at a desk wishing my life was different. I know what I think, I don't fear it, and therefore I can think much more freely. Whether it's myself or someone else, a university is not an easy pass to Go. Tons of college students fail in life because they thought the degree was their ticket to the good life. It's not the degree that makes the person: it's the mind that too many neglect or distort in favor of that shallow triumph. Instead of being forced into nurturing our egos, we should be allowed to nurture our compassion and self-understanding.

But if we did that, the world would be a much healthier place, which is precisely why it will never happen in accord with the system's agenda.

Rain/Eli ♥