Anna and Troy’s Weblog

My previous post and subsequent “blogersations” have gotten me thinking about ALL of the things that I have forgotten since college. Wow. Just to warn you, this is a rather intense session of self-reflection (just in case you are now contemplating a similar self evaluation). It is not for the faint of heart or those with already low or somewhat battered self esteem.

At the top of my list is calculus. The reason it is at the top of my list is because I remember absolutely nothing about calculus. When I say absolutely nothing…..I mean absolutely and totally nothing….not a vague but sort of shadowy idea…..not some of the stuff has faded…….ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. In fact, it took me an embarrassingly long time to come up with the words derivative and integral, which for those of you who have not ever had the pleasure of taking calculus, are VERY central, if not definitive, themes of the subject.

I took two years of calculus in high school, and performed well enough that I was able to take a test to receive college credit for some of my preparatory school efforts. Then when I actually got to college, I took their “introductory math placement test” and was able to test out of even more math. All-in-all, I only had to take one semester of calculus in college…..and somehow, miraculously….I was able to pull off an “A.”

Here is the truly amazing part. Not only do I not remember ANYTHING about calculus. I can’t even remember the class in college. I remember that I took the class, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what the classroom looked like, what the teacher looked like, what the book looked like, if the teacher was male or female……NOTHING.

How is this possible? I consider myself to be a person of at least average intelligence, but my memory (or lack of memory) is so baffling to me. My husband remembers things: trivia, historical dates, playing specific holes on specific golf courses at specific times, lines from movies that he has seen once, what color his sock were at a Christmas party when he was 8…… I, on the other hand, have “tabula rasa” syndrome in a major way. My slate is easily wiped clean, or at the very least it is highly selective as to which things are worthy of being held onto for extended periods of time. It is a running joke in our house that movies are “always new to me.” I can remember that I saw the movie before, but the plot will unfold with only vague recollection.

I guess this post has no real point (and will I even remember writing it tomorrow?). I have printed off a 21 page “basic calculus refresher” from a University webpage. It has been sitting on my desk for the last couple of days….. A small step.