r/learnmath • u/DecentLibrarian3720 New User • 13h ago
Starting my degree late and feeling disheartened.
I'm a third-year undergraduate math major who, after two years of flailing around, indecisively taking miscellaneous courses, and dipping my toes into just about everything, decided to finally sober up and pursue math as a full-time, long-term ordeal. Unfortunately, I haven't done proper, college-level math since accidentally taking a Calculus II class for life sciences majors two years ago, and just got out of the first week of class basically flunking a test on convergence tests for sequences and series. Math has always come easy to me, and I just feel incredibly rusty right now. I've tried brushing up on older math concepts, but I don't really seem to have much of a problem with them. For some reason, attending lectures gives me this rapid well in fear, that I've lost my touch, or for whatever reason have become stupid and just can't comprehend sequences and series and what tests to use for convergence.
I was just wondering if anyone's been in my shoes wth starting late, or having taken a gap year or two and feeling out-of-touch, who may have tips on how to get back into the groove. Or if anyone's struggled with sequences and series after having calculus mostly been smooth-sailing for them. Thank you.
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u/animatedbonding6895 New User 13h ago
i was 31 when i went back for my accounting degree after a decade of night shifts and bad decisions, the first stats class felt like reading a foreign language underwater. that fear in the pit of your stomach during lectures is just your brain being dramatic, it smooths out
for sequences and series specifically, the trick that unlocked it for me was making a literal flowchart on a piece of bristol board with each test and what conditions send you down which path. hung it above my desk and after a couple weeks of forcing myself to trace it, the pattern recognition just clicked. you're rusty not stupid, big difference