Little Things that Can Define Our Lives

Today I was tutoring someone and I pulled out my trusty TI-85 to do some quick calculations.  In case you aren't up on the calculator models,  the TI-85 is no longer made.  My father bought it for me when I was 14 and a freshman in high school.  It was the best one available to the students at the time.  My father spent an extra $15.00 buying that model for me instead of the TI-81, which was the other model available.  Also, not everyone's parents bought them calculators.  So here I was with a father who put $115.00 towards my education. I think, but I am not positive, if he had not done that, I would never have found this great love for math that I now have.

Prior to that year I had done horribly at math.  I was placed into GT math in 6th grade, but I was sick the first six weeks of school and missed a lot of material and never really caught up.  My parents were going through a divorce and somehow my education wasn't a priority.  I failed out of GT Math and was in honors the following year, 7th grade.  I managed to pass and then failed out of 8th grade honors math.  I had to retake that math in 9th grade.  The really strange thing about my 8th grade math is that my teacher offered to pass me because I answered one question and she said it made her think I knew what was going on.  She said it was up to me.  I thought about it, but told her I wanted to retake it in my 9th grade year.

9th grade I had a wonderful teacher; that coupled with my fathers willingness to invest in a calculator for me allowed me to succeed.  I would compete with the boy next to me for the top grade in class.  I would do my homework on my lunch break and I would always volunteer to go to the board.  I no longer hated math.  I loved it.  I still do and I am going to school to teach it.  So I have to say thank you to my father for having enough faith in me to buy me that calculator, that I still use 18 years later (man I am old)!