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MATH 112… THE TASK MASTER!!!

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        Weird title right? If you are familiar with this blog, then you might have seen your fair share of weird titles… but if you’re new, then welcome to a blog dedicated to stirring up change in the hearts of as many people that are willing to give it a chance; for as many people that are tired of the status quo. Trust me, you’re gonna be seeing a few more weird titles in the future. I once heard a statement that kept me thinking for months. “People can only change by fifteen percent no matter how much they try”. I heard that statement from a movie, which is why I didn’t want to believe it at first, but after giving it much thought, I began to see the logic in it. Being an avid supporter of Real Madrid and of Cristiano Ronaldo, I began to imagine giving that part of my life up for someone I cared about. I imagined that I could, but only for as long as it was mutual. As far as I was concerned, I would run back to the flat screen the second I began to feel neglect from that beloved someone. That was a weak example of my fifteen percent; a mere twenty seven degrees. But I have seen people turn their lives around the entire one hundred and eighty degrees and never look back. What could be the underlying factor behind the remaining 75% (153 degrees)? It was God! He has always, and will always be the Game Changer. I write in the hope that I can stir that 15%, but ultimately, He is the one capable of bringing lasting change to all those who desire it. That being said, I stray right back to my weird title…
            I love the learning environment. For me, it’s a place where I feel like I have almost everything under control. But my arrival in ATBU wasn’t exactly exhilarating. If anything, I arrived at the gates lacking enthusiasm about my new school and the next five years of my life. But I dreamt and loved computers enough to walk through that gate. Little did I know that there was a task master, whom the entire school had no choice but to please in order to get to the next level. People dreaded him; others hated him with a passion so vehement that it spread like a wild fire through their entire set of courses, causing them headache for the entire semester. Others loved him temporarily (just to get by); others just didn’t care about him as much as they should have. Others paid him the utmost attention, much to the jealousy of his fellow task masters. He was MTH 112 (Calculus I). But there were a select few who saw him as a stepping stone to better understanding and as a trainer for resilience in almost every other task master they could ever come across. Those were the few he smiled at when he was on display on the notice board. Sadly, I wasn’t part of the select few the first time he had to train me.
            I came untrained, haven’t ever taken a calculus course in my entire life, and with a few O’ level mathematics topics under my belt. I set out to conquer the beast. On the night of the first battle, I felt a little unprepared, and then very unprepared, and by the time his eyes were looking into mine, I was certain I was way in over my head. Suffice it to say, I was humiliated before him, and I walked out of the hall with my tail between my legs. The funny and somewhat sad part was that it was my birthday! I was humiliated by this beast of a course on my birthday!!! By the time the semester was over, I was well under his feet. He stood tall and lanky, voicing his arrogance loudly into my ears, and filling his proud chest with the admiration of the other task masters whom I had under my feet. Truth be told, he was way bigger than I was. Truth be told, he changed me.
            By the time I approached him again, I still was untrained, having taken a calculus course and failed it woefully. But with not just a few O’ level mathematics topics under my belt, but also a new way of thinking. I no longer feared him… matter of fact, I still thank him. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have found a passion I’d pursue for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t have found a burden that brings me great joy any sooner than it came. I approached him with resilience, and with a stubbornness that he later confessed to have never seen before. On the day of the first battle, he called me out unexpectedly, having learnt of my stubbornness, and he knocked me flat out! But I nursed my wounds in solitude, and laughed as his punches taught me to survive. By the time he called me again, it was a different story altogether. I paid in full, the debt which I owed him, matching him blow for blow till he saw the futility in holding me back. When I did get to the notice board, he had a smile for some people, for others he kept the frown I saw the year before. But for a few, he had a queer smile, and respect in his eyes. I was one of those few. When I looked at him, I knew I had learnt a lesson no one could ever take away from me. I had found things no one could have given me with mere words. I passed the course without attending a single lecture!
            Our ‘failures’ weren’t ever made to be deciders; they were stepping stones all along. While the agony of defeat in a battle in life is not pleasant, the joy of victory at the end of the war can’t be matched with any feeling in the world. I found that joy, and it gave me strength to move on, a focus to pursue, a dream to fulfill, and a burden to relieve. You might have met someone tougher than MTH 112 (The task master and humbler of the pride of Jambites), yet I hope you look a little bit closer and see a stepping stone trying all it can to make you take a little step further in your life and career. ‘The hotter the fire, the purer the gold’. I didn’t understand that statement until I met the task master. Whatever task master might be in your life, whipping you and your destiny into shape, don’t step aside, not when you have somewhere you wanna be! If you passed MTH 112 or your version of calculus the first time you met him, congratulations, you were bigger than him. And if you didn’t get it right the first time, I guess there’s a lesson you forgot to learn, just like the one I needed to learn. But we all have battles to fight everyday of our lives, and lose some we may. But let it never be said that I walked away from life and from my story, admitting defeat. Let it never be said that you did.
           
             

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