From as early as I can remember, math has always been associated with great amounts of stress and frustration, where my countless hours of effort never seemed to be reflected in my math grades. Within my first year of college, I discovered my love for psychology and decided to declare Psychology as my major, despite the major’s large math requirement. My MATH114 class was by far my most challenging course, and while I am not sure how much math-related material I retained from the course, I learned a great deal about myself as a student. I knew that if I wanted to succeed, I had to look for resources outside of the classroom for additional help. I began by attending office hours, hiring a tutor, and visiting the Math Lab several times a week.…show more content… As a camp counselor, working with five-year olds was both a highly rewarding and exhausting experience. My campers were at different levels of maturity and my co-counselors had already determined what responses coordinated with each situation, which often did not work out well for the campers. I, instead, looked at each camper and each situation holistically. While some children were able to follow simple instructions, others like Timmy needed more incentive to complete even the simplest tasks. He was often seen as a trouble-making, difficult child. My co-counselors were quick to react and punish him. This was upsetting, because he was not intentionally doing something wrong. His attention was in other places and he refused to listen to my co-counselors because he was so often punished by them. When I recognized the root of this problem I took action. It was only a few days into the summer, meaning that it was time for my campers to take their deep water tests. These tests required campers to swim across the pool in the deep-end without stopping. As long as they fulfilled the test’s requirements, they would pass. Most campers did as they were supposed to do without question, but Timmy was more interested in playing games. So, I made a game out of the test. I told him that he was a shark chasing me, the mermaid. When he heard this, his eyes brightened up and he readily took the test. For the rest of the summer, I would try to engage Timmy’s interest and help keep his attention on the tasks at hand, such as coloring in a picture or changing into his bathing suit. This worked for Timmy, because giving him an incentive rather than a threat was much more effective. This reinforces my belief that there is no singular way to approach a problem. While studying abroad, I will have the chance to learn in an unfamiliar environment.
