Algebra is ruining my chances

whitebuffalogirl
Tue, 24 May 2011 22:11:02 +0000

I’m in pretty much the same boat as you. I have NEVER once passed algebra either, not in my entire life. I had a private tutor one year in high school and I would think I was getting it until I got the tests back and I would score a 29 or 30%. Basically a fail. I get up to a certain point(graphing) and then I just hit a roadblock. Cannot do it. The only reason I graduated high school was because I had extra credits left over, otherwise I would not have graduated. I was in remedial math courses and barely managed to scrape by with a ‘D’.

I’m at a junior college now and have been there for almost six years, it is so embarassing. I’ve taken the intermediate and elementary algebra courses at least five times and I have yet to pass either one with a “C”. The best I am able to achieve is a ‘D’, and that does not satisfy the requirement for either the UC system or the CSU system. I have taken every single class I need for my major(BA in History, MBA in Library Science) and the ****ing math is holding me back I cannot pass Elementary or Intermediate Algebra, so I can’t move on to College Algebra, which is a requirement to transfer to a four year college. I quit going to school for a year because I was so frustrated and tired of fighting to achieve only D’s. I had a tutor through the school math help lab and I did okay, but same old thing-I thought I was doing okay until I got my tests back(again, only 29 or 30%'s) and until we got to graphing. My mind just draws a blank. I cannot even begin to comprehend how graphs work, and trust me, I have tried.

I even took a remedial math course one year and failed that one too.

Now I work at a ****ty desk job, am underpaid and contemplating suicide because I know that without a college degree, the options to do well in life are extremely slim. This horrible math problem is holding me back and making me extremely depressed, all of my friends have moved on and gone to four year colleges and I am still here at this junior college.

I’ll be attempting math again in the Fall, and if I don’t get a C this time I may just give up and throw in the towel and accept that I’m just never going to get it. It’s really sad that so many students have this problem.