I have severe math anxiety

JustAHuman · ‎13-11-2019

I'm a 13yr old girl, I fear math and I have math anxiety. Not the small "oh I can't do this question I'm going to fail the test" but my thoughts are "I failed one question. I'm going to fail in life". I'm REALLY bad at math, almost everyone in my class is either great or good at it--I however-- am bad at it. I applied to join the AAFC and I'm really excited to join. I'm also intending to join the Air Force because it just fascinates me. Thing is, the requirements to join is that you have to keep math all the way up until year 12. I'm not good at math, my head just can't think logically like that and whenever I think of it I either want to cry, do self-arm or just straight up die.

Today-- my teacher told me these words when I was in math period 1 & 2, "I saw you doing nothing today in class. What is wrong with you?",she said with a stern face. I replied with"nothing". She then continues with, "is there something else? This is ridiculous! You can't just give up on math like that! So, when there's harder subjects over the years are you going to give up on them as well? It's ONLY YEAR SEVEN" her eyes stared into mine like a deadly disease. My lips quivered and my eyes threatened to spill. "So, is there something else?" she asks once more, "no. It's just the maths", I weakly respond, my knees about to fail on me. "Your father was really happy when you were practicing at home with him, what happened? You just went from--" she mentions with her hand to look like it was on top of a hill, and drops it down like a child sliding down a slide. "--to that." she ends. "If you want to, you can sit down next to me if you want some help", she raises a brow. I think. I knew what she was doing: She was going to put me in front of the class so I would feel embarrassed in front of everybody else.

I might have made a short story just then but that was how it went. My mind goes into torture every time I go to math class, I don't have dyslexia or anything but, WHY AM I SO BAD AT MATHS AND CAN SOMEONE HELP ME?

Aaronsis · ‎13-11-2019

Hello JustAHuman

I want to welcome you to the forum and for being brave and speaking out, that is so wonderful, can I also say that I am terrible at math too....so welcome to a very big club.

I also want to say that I can hear how passionate you are about joining the AAFC and I think that is so awesome that at a young age you know what you want and you already have the determination to do this.

I think your math teacher was really trying to help but she might have missed the mark in that she addressed it with you in class at a time when you were clearly emotional and that was not good timing. How would you feel about going back to see her at perhaps a lunchtime or after school and ask for some support and let her know you are struggling and that math is important to you. I am sure she will be more than accommodating and might even be able to provide some extra resources for you to use to do some extra work to help. I also saw that you mentioned your dad, is it still possible for you to spend some time with him to get some help at home?

I also want you to consider that you dont have to be a rocket scientist at this and that a pass will be great, so please do not put the weight of the world on yourself to be the best at math, in saying that I can see you are comparing to your friends and that they are really good at math, I am so very sure that in other subjects you are doing better than some of your friends, it is hard not to compare but I just want you to see that we are all different and succeed in different areas.

I think you could also say to your teacher that you feel anxious about her putting you in the front of the class so she can help you and you can ask her please not to do that.

You are only in YR7 and it is such a big change and so many things going on, I am so proud of you for coming to chat and I hope to chat to you some more to see how you are going JustAHuman.

You are so very much stronger than you think, huge hugs to you

AS

JustAHuman · ‎14-11-2019

Thank you sooooooooo much for all the help and advice you just gave me. I'll ask one of my parents arrange a meeting with her and my dad so we can have a chat or something. And again, thank you. xoxo

Aaronsis · ‎14-11-2019

You are most very welcome and I look forward to chatting to you again, if you need to , if not that is fine too, although I would love to know how the meeting with the teacher goes.

Hugs to you and all the best, here anytime you need us.

AS

Luna_L_ · ‎16-11-2019

I’m bad at maths too and I feel your pain. However despite being bad at maths I eventually got into my dream Science course ( requires maths ) in university. In primary school I was the Asian that was bad at maths and it’s really embarrassing. All the other kids went to maths tutoring which made me even more disadvantaged. My parents were impatient with me ( like your teacher) which didn’t help and made things worse. That all changed a bit in highschool when I turned things around and got better support. As I 13 year old back then I never thought I would go into science, my childhood dream was to become an artist or designer since I hated maths! I believe you can reach your dream if you be patient and believe in yourself. It is important to communicate with your maths teacher and ask for help. That really made a difference to how I approached maths and became better at it. Also if you feel like you need extra support, consider getting a maths tutor to help you. However I was still bad at maths in year 12 and I didn’t even pass. I eventually made it into my dream course! Just remember that you are still young and your goals may change and there may be other subjects that comes more naturally to you which may give you a boost. You seem very determined to join the AAFC and that’s great, it’s the first step towards you goal and determination really helped me into my course. Don’t stress and Good luck!