Wise words of the past

When I was in eighth grade, Miss Chiu had a saying:

"Everyone must DO mathematics to LEARN mathematics.... Other group members can be an immense resource for answering your questions; but, most importantly, they will help you by giving you many opportunities to help them. You will know the material best when you explain it to someone else."

Honestly, in her class, I was often the person begging for help. I was the one being helped all the time. The people helping me were all immensely smarter; I didn't feel that I was helping them so much.

Fast-forward to now. Last night, I helped a friend review for our precalc final. As we went through the various problems, I actually saw how clearly I understood them. All the horrors of logarithms and trig didn't seem that bad once I was explaining them.

Heh...algebra 2/trig was such a brutal, competitive world, now that I think about it. But it opened up a window to opportunity--the chance to help others.

Claire, if you're reading this, I hope I provided enough support for you to do well :)