View from the ‘Bridge

It’s been a while since I posted anything, I know. Not that I have any regular readers to dissapoint beyond my parents, girlfriend, and a few close friends, and all of them know what I’ve been up to. Even without posting, however, I’ve averaged about 30 or so visitors a day, so apparently someone is reading.

The last two months have basically been a whirlwind for me. Work has been so hectic that I’ve had some 60+ hour weeks and even a period of time that I had been in the office for 14 days straight! Luckily I don’t have a job that makes me want to kill myself, so it hasn’t been the end of the world. In fact my current work, around increasing affordable housing in Union Square, Somerville, has been great experience for the other major project in my life.

I’m going to graduate school!

Well, I hope I’m going to graduate school. In early October I decided that, after being out of college for 3.5 years, I was ready to become a student again. By the middle of January, I will have submitted my application to MIT, Tufts, and the University of Illinois, Chicago, to pursue my Masters Degree in Urban Planning!

The applications haven’t been the toughest part, but rather, studying for the GRE has nearly killed me. The Verbal and Analytical Writing sections are fine, but I could definitely do without the Math.

I know, everyone complains about the Math. The Algebra, Geometry, and other assorted middle school math skills are concepts that most of us haven’t worked on for at least half a decade before we take the test. In my case, like many others, because I whole avoided math all together in College, it’s been more like 7 or 10 years since I’ve seriously dealt with this stuff.

To make matters worse, during my Freshman year in High School I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. I don’t have the hyperactive kind that people assume afflicts so many pre-adolescent boys, but rather a severe lack of long-term attention. This is the kind of ADD that is most often missed in children and adults because to parents and teachers it seems like we may be paying attention, while in fact our minds could be thousands of miles from where our bodies really are. Instead of an actual clinical deficit, parents and teachers think that we’re just lazy or not motivated to reach our full potential.

At any rate, because I was diagnosed in 9th grade, my mathematical development was delayed. It wasn’t until then and subsequent years that, with the help of a professional, I was able to understand and develop the mechanisms and techniques I needed to help myself grasp the math concepts that had for so long baffled me. I basically had to use these new skills to catch up to the previous 8 or 9 years of math that I had struggled with. But because High School is the time when math courses turn from basic arithmetic and algebra to more advanced forms like Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus, I was simultaneously working to catch up while fighting to keep up with the rapidly advancing new concepts.

By the end of high school I had gotten to a good place — enrolled in Probabilities and Statistics that year, I received my first ever A in a math course. But needless to say, because of the intense energy math had always required of me, it left a pretty sour taste in my mouth. Even though my senior year math course had been a surprising success, throughout College I avoided it like the plague.

So here I am, actually just 2 hours before my GRE. For the last two months I have submerged myself in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry to prepare for this stupid test. It has actually been fun, in a way. Even without taking math in college, the academic maturing I went through as an undergrad helped me even further understand my learning style. I’ve been able to apply to that to studying for the GRE so that I have actually had a few revelations about concepts that have always baffled me.

I do know that I’m still not at a point before the test where someone who breezed through math class would be, but I am comfortable with that. The mid-600’s that I have been scoring on practice tests are okay by me, and a marked improvement over the mid-200’s I was scoring when I started my GRE studies. It certainly will not be the best score of all the people who are applying to the same programs as me, but I know that I have work experience that many can not contend with. Most importantly, this whole process has given me confidence that — despite previous academic struggles — I do have the capacity to figure out for myself even the most impossible-seeming concepts.

That’s what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks. A lot of boring study, but also a sizable portion of self-realization. With so much energy directed here, it’s been difficult to find time for my blog. Over the next couple weeks I’ll be rushing to finish and submit my applications, but I do hope to have more time to post here.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 15th, 2006 at 11:22 am and is filed under Biographical, Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.