What can I do to force myself to like mathematics again?
A couple of months ago I absolutely loved mathematics. I couldn't get enough of it, it was my favorite subject, and it was at that point I decided that I wanted to study it at university and I would see through this goal no matter what. I wasn't the best mathematician in my class, and somewhere around the middle to lower quartile.
Committing myself to this path, I made the effort to do my best attempt to lock friends and family out of my life for months on end and do nothing but drill myself on any maths problems I could find for hours every day after school and for as many hours as my brain could bear on weekends and half term break. Initially, these were some standard a level past paper questions, but I quickly moved on to the more challenging STEP papers.
It was rewarding to see that in just less than 1 month, I was finding the A level papers that had previously been slightly difficult nothing more than a joke. When we had mocks for the core, statistics and mechanics modules, I found myself finishing in just half the time required and twiddling my thumb while scoring near full marks. (Save for a few formatting-error marks lost to do with units or putting answers in the form x=a y=b when it asked for coordinates).
2 months now in this program that I have committed myself into, I still continue to drill myself endlessly on problems everyday and my mathematical ability has never been better. But it is now, I start to feel actually slightly sick at this point, in that I no longer get the pleasure that I used to out of mathematics. That same feeling of 'wow' every time I read the solution to a question I had struggled on just wasn't there anymore, and that golden moment when you finally crack down a problem into more familiar or even common-sense like concepts just didn't seem as golden as it used to. What mathematics had that made it shine above all other subjects just wasn't there anymore. It now became a case of 'deliberate practice' on whatever I could get my hands on, and I felt like I no longer enjoyed it or, in fact, I find it surprisingly difficult to enjoy anything in life anymore. it has been a while since I did anything for the purpose of simply getting enjoyment out of it, and the only reason I do the things I do now is to reach the goals that I so desperately want.
Nevertheless, I still want to see through my goal of getting into a top university no matter what, and once again find my love in mathematics sparked by something interesting. I know that I still must continue to grind problems, because every day I do not work hard, someone else does, and that someone else is securing the spot at cambridge/oxford and displacing me off it, and that is enough to keep me doing maths solely of the purpose of polishing my performance, because if I don't, at the end of the day, I will be a loser, a nobody.
Committing myself to this path, I made the effort to do my best attempt to lock friends and family out of my life for months on end and do nothing but drill myself on any maths problems I could find for hours every day after school and for as many hours as my brain could bear on weekends and half term break. Initially, these were some standard a level past paper questions, but I quickly moved on to the more challenging STEP papers.
It was rewarding to see that in just less than 1 month, I was finding the A level papers that had previously been slightly difficult nothing more than a joke. When we had mocks for the core, statistics and mechanics modules, I found myself finishing in just half the time required and twiddling my thumb while scoring near full marks. (Save for a few formatting-error marks lost to do with units or putting answers in the form x=a y=b when it asked for coordinates).
2 months now in this program that I have committed myself into, I still continue to drill myself endlessly on problems everyday and my mathematical ability has never been better. But it is now, I start to feel actually slightly sick at this point, in that I no longer get the pleasure that I used to out of mathematics. That same feeling of 'wow' every time I read the solution to a question I had struggled on just wasn't there anymore, and that golden moment when you finally crack down a problem into more familiar or even common-sense like concepts just didn't seem as golden as it used to. What mathematics had that made it shine above all other subjects just wasn't there anymore. It now became a case of 'deliberate practice' on whatever I could get my hands on, and I felt like I no longer enjoyed it or, in fact, I find it surprisingly difficult to enjoy anything in life anymore. it has been a while since I did anything for the purpose of simply getting enjoyment out of it, and the only reason I do the things I do now is to reach the goals that I so desperately want.
Nevertheless, I still want to see through my goal of getting into a top university no matter what, and once again find my love in mathematics sparked by something interesting. I know that I still must continue to grind problems, because every day I do not work hard, someone else does, and that someone else is securing the spot at cambridge/oxford and displacing me off it, and that is enough to keep me doing maths solely of the purpose of polishing my performance, because if I don't, at the end of the day, I will be a loser, a nobody.
Stop doing maths 24/7 then obviously you are going to burnout. Find something else to do and do that for sometime. Also just because you don't get into oxbridge doesn't mean you are a failure lol. and you're attitude is maybe showing you are not good enough/mature enough to even go there. just calm down.
Original post by poorform
Stop doing maths 24/7 then obviously you are going to burnout. Find something else to do and do that for sometime. Also just because you don't get into oxbridge doesn't mean you are a failure lol. and you're attitude is maybe showing you are not good enough/mature enough to even go there. just calm down.
also if you are getting sick of maths after one month only perhaps a maths degree is not for you.
Assuming you are a 17/18 year old I suggest you go out on a Friday evening...
Assuming further you are a male of heterosexual orientation get yourself a girlfriend or something...
Most people here had enough of these troll threads... at least some of your earlier ones were quite entertaining ...
Assuming further you are a male of heterosexual orientation get yourself a girlfriend or something...
Most people here had enough of these troll threads... at least some of your earlier ones were quite entertaining ...
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by TeeEm
Assuming you are a 17/18 year I suggest you go out on a Friday evening...
Assuming further you are a male of heterosexual orientation get yourself a girlfriend or something...
Most people here had enough of these troll threads... at least some of your earlier ones were quite entertaining ...
Assuming further you are a male of heterosexual orientation get yourself a girlfriend or something...
Most people here had enough of these troll threads... at least some of your earlier ones were quite entertaining ...
how dare you suggest he doesn't spend 100% of his spare time doing maths, he will never get into oxbridge and rule the world otherwise.
If you're working to the point where the subject isn't enjoyable anymore, then you're working too hard. Besides, one of the main things that'll differentiate you from other university candidates is you're enjoyment and passion for the subject, and your willingness to work for it. If you take that away from yourself then you're doing a lot more harm than if you spend a few days not working as hard. Once you've started working like you are it's very difficult to stop without feeling like you're letting yourself down, but you have to give yourself breaks. If you're really not enjoying anything in life anymore then that could be a symptom of a mental health problem, which can definitely be brought on by stress and overwork. And you shouldn't try to force yourself to like anything. If it's not for you, if you've changed your mind you can work around that- you're obviously very intelligent and could probably excel in several subject areas.
Original post by TeeEm
Assuming you are a 17/18 year old I suggest you go out on a Friday evening...
Assuming further you are a male of heterosexual orientation get yourself a girlfriend or something...
Most people here had enough of these troll threads... at least some of your earlier ones were quite entertaining ...
Assuming further you are a male of heterosexual orientation get yourself a girlfriend or something...
Most people here had enough of these troll threads... at least some of your earlier ones were quite entertaining ...
Aftos Don OP enai o megaliteros malakas thamesa.
PS I agree with this comment. Getting laid is crucial to success in mathematics.
Original post by Tiri
Aftos Don OP enai o megaliteros malakas thamesa.
PS I agree with this comment. Getting laid is crucial to success in mathematics.
PS I agree with this comment. Getting laid is crucial to success in mathematics.
Original post by CancerousProblem
A couple of months ago I absolutely loved mathematics. I couldn't get enough of it, it was my favorite subject, and it was at that point I decided that I wanted to study it at university and I would see through this goal no matter what. I wasn't the best mathematician in my class, and somewhere around the middle to lower quartile.
Committing myself to this path, I made the effort to do my best attempt to lock friends and family out of my life for months on end and do nothing but drill myself on any maths problems I could find for hours every day after school and for as many hours as my brain could bear on weekends and half term break. Initially, these were some standard a level past paper questions, but I quickly moved on to the more challenging STEP papers.
It was rewarding to see that in just less than 1 month, I was finding the A level papers that had previously been slightly difficult nothing more than a joke. When we had mocks for the core, statistics and mechanics modules, I found myself finishing in just half the time required and twiddling my thumb while scoring near full marks. (Save for a few formatting-error marks lost to do with units or putting answers in the form x=a y=b when it asked for coordinates).
2 months now in this program that I have committed myself into, I still continue to drill myself endlessly on problems everyday and my mathematical ability has never been better. But it is now, I start to feel actually slightly sick at this point, in that I no longer get the pleasure that I used to out of mathematics. That same feeling of 'wow' every time I read the solution to a question I had struggled on just wasn't there anymore, and that golden moment when you finally crack down a problem into more familiar or even common-sense like concepts just didn't seem as golden as it used to. What mathematics had that made it shine above all other subjects just wasn't there anymore. It now became a case of 'deliberate practice' on whatever I could get my hands on, and I felt like I no longer enjoyed it or, in fact, I find it surprisingly difficult to enjoy anything in life anymore. it has been a while since I did anything for the purpose of simply getting enjoyment out of it, and the only reason I do the things I do now is to reach the goals that I so desperately want.
Nevertheless, I still want to see through my goal of getting into a top university no matter what, and once again find my love in mathematics sparked by something interesting. I know that I still must continue to grind problems, because every day I do not work hard, someone else does, and that someone else is securing the spot at cambridge/oxford and displacing me off it, and that is enough to keep me doing maths solely of the purpose of polishing my performance, because if I don't, at the end of the day, I will be a loser, a nobody.
Committing myself to this path, I made the effort to do my best attempt to lock friends and family out of my life for months on end and do nothing but drill myself on any maths problems I could find for hours every day after school and for as many hours as my brain could bear on weekends and half term break. Initially, these were some standard a level past paper questions, but I quickly moved on to the more challenging STEP papers.
It was rewarding to see that in just less than 1 month, I was finding the A level papers that had previously been slightly difficult nothing more than a joke. When we had mocks for the core, statistics and mechanics modules, I found myself finishing in just half the time required and twiddling my thumb while scoring near full marks. (Save for a few formatting-error marks lost to do with units or putting answers in the form x=a y=b when it asked for coordinates).
2 months now in this program that I have committed myself into, I still continue to drill myself endlessly on problems everyday and my mathematical ability has never been better. But it is now, I start to feel actually slightly sick at this point, in that I no longer get the pleasure that I used to out of mathematics. That same feeling of 'wow' every time I read the solution to a question I had struggled on just wasn't there anymore, and that golden moment when you finally crack down a problem into more familiar or even common-sense like concepts just didn't seem as golden as it used to. What mathematics had that made it shine above all other subjects just wasn't there anymore. It now became a case of 'deliberate practice' on whatever I could get my hands on, and I felt like I no longer enjoyed it or, in fact, I find it surprisingly difficult to enjoy anything in life anymore. it has been a while since I did anything for the purpose of simply getting enjoyment out of it, and the only reason I do the things I do now is to reach the goals that I so desperately want.
Nevertheless, I still want to see through my goal of getting into a top university no matter what, and once again find my love in mathematics sparked by something interesting. I know that I still must continue to grind problems, because every day I do not work hard, someone else does, and that someone else is securing the spot at cambridge/oxford and displacing me off it, and that is enough to keep me doing maths solely of the purpose of polishing my performance, because if I don't, at the end of the day, I will be a loser, a nobody.
You need to start selecting mathematics problems that are interesting that is the key just picking any problems you can find and doing them will not be that exciting after a while.When I work on STEP I look for problems that I want to know the answers to and enjoy getting to them.Also, there are several more things you can do you can research into Mathematics looking at some University level Mathematics or you could explore ideas you get into your head and try to invent your own mathematical ideas, I love doing this I think I go too far sometimes but I have generated results that real mathematicians have before me so I must be doing something right.
You must love Maths to bits as all of your threads are about Maths!! Do some Further Maths and you won't get bored.
Go and get a girlfriend. If you have to eat, sleep and breathe maths just to get the grades to apply to oxbridge, then you are not oxbridge standard.
To be completely honest, if you were ever in the middle or bottom quartile in maths you would beyond struggle studying maths at Oxford/Cambridge; you have to realise that the vast majority of people doing maths at either university completely breezed through GCSEs and A-Level. 25% of people on both courses end up with a 2:2 or below, and most of these people are still very competent mathematicians who would quite easily have secured a 2:1 (or even a first) at another university. Even if you managed to get in, the chances of you getting a 2:2, or worse, would be pretty high and you'd be working your socks off only to end up with a practically worthless degree.
It's all good and well striving for Oxbridge, and you should apply (after all, you get five choices) but you need to actually look beyond simply getting an offer, which is the easy part, and consider what it would be like spending three or four years studying a course designed for people who weren't remotely challenged by A-Levels.
It is also pretty alarming that you think you'd be a 'nobody' if you fail to get into Oxbridge. You would be better off with a 1st/2:1 from pretty much any university compared to a 2:2 from Oxford/Cambridge.
It's all good and well striving for Oxbridge, and you should apply (after all, you get five choices) but you need to actually look beyond simply getting an offer, which is the easy part, and consider what it would be like spending three or four years studying a course designed for people who weren't remotely challenged by A-Levels.
It is also pretty alarming that you think you'd be a 'nobody' if you fail to get into Oxbridge. You would be better off with a 1st/2:1 from pretty much any university compared to a 2:2 from Oxford/Cambridge.
Original post by TeeEm
Assuming you are a 17/18 year old I suggest you go out on a Friday evening...
Assuming further you are a male of heterosexual orientation get yourself a girlfriend or something...
Most people here had enough of these troll threads... at least some of your earlier ones were quite entertaining ...
Assuming further you are a male of heterosexual orientation get yourself a girlfriend or something...
Most people here had enough of these troll threads... at least some of your earlier ones were quite entertaining ...
Lol, Assumtions without proof. Zero marks
Posted from TSR Mobile
I only looked at STEP properly in Yr 13, in yr 12 i looked at it and thought this is way too hard.I left it, come yr 13 and i love every second of it. Except statistics and binomial expansions lol.
Do you love maths unconditionally, if so a maths degree is for u. If not give it a shot and see what happens(its not good).
Posted from TSR Mobile
Do you love maths unconditionally, if so a maths degree is for u. If not give it a shot and see what happens(its not good).
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by CancerousProblem
A couple of months ago I absolutely loved mathematics. I couldn't get enough of it, it was my favorite subject, and it was at that point I decided that I wanted to study it at university and I would see through this goal no matter what. I wasn't the best mathematician in my class, and somewhere around the middle to lower quartile.
Committing myself to this path, I made the effort to do my best attempt to lock friends and family out of my life for months on end and do nothing but drill myself on any maths problems I could find for hours every day after school and for as many hours as my brain could bear on weekends and half term break. Initially, these were some standard a level past paper questions, but I quickly moved on to the more challenging STEP papers.
It was rewarding to see that in just less than 1 month, I was finding the A level papers that had previously been slightly difficult nothing more than a joke. When we had mocks for the core, statistics and mechanics modules, I found myself finishing in just half the time required and twiddling my thumb while scoring near full marks. (Save for a few formatting-error marks lost to do with units or putting answers in the form x=a y=b when it asked for coordinates).
2 months now in this program that I have committed myself into, I still continue to drill myself endlessly on problems everyday and my mathematical ability has never been better. But it is now, I start to feel actually slightly sick at this point, in that I no longer get the pleasure that I used to out of mathematics. That same feeling of 'wow' every time I read the solution to a question I had struggled on just wasn't there anymore, and that golden moment when you finally crack down a problem into more familiar or even common-sense like concepts just didn't seem as golden as it used to. What mathematics had that made it shine above all other subjects just wasn't there anymore. It now became a case of 'deliberate practice' on whatever I could get my hands on, and I felt like I no longer enjoyed it or, in fact, I find it surprisingly difficult to enjoy anything in life anymore. it has been a while since I did anything for the purpose of simply getting enjoyment out of it, and the only reason I do the things I do now is to reach the goals that I so desperately want.
Nevertheless, I still want to see through my goal of getting into a top university no matter what, and once again find my love in mathematics sparked by something interesting. I know that I still must continue to grind problems, because every day I do not work hard, someone else does, and that someone else is securing the spot at cambridge/oxford and displacing me off it, and that is enough to keep me doing maths solely of the purpose of polishing my performance, because if I don't, at the end of the day, I will be a loser, a nobody.
Committing myself to this path, I made the effort to do my best attempt to lock friends and family out of my life for months on end and do nothing but drill myself on any maths problems I could find for hours every day after school and for as many hours as my brain could bear on weekends and half term break. Initially, these were some standard a level past paper questions, but I quickly moved on to the more challenging STEP papers.
It was rewarding to see that in just less than 1 month, I was finding the A level papers that had previously been slightly difficult nothing more than a joke. When we had mocks for the core, statistics and mechanics modules, I found myself finishing in just half the time required and twiddling my thumb while scoring near full marks. (Save for a few formatting-error marks lost to do with units or putting answers in the form x=a y=b when it asked for coordinates).
2 months now in this program that I have committed myself into, I still continue to drill myself endlessly on problems everyday and my mathematical ability has never been better. But it is now, I start to feel actually slightly sick at this point, in that I no longer get the pleasure that I used to out of mathematics. That same feeling of 'wow' every time I read the solution to a question I had struggled on just wasn't there anymore, and that golden moment when you finally crack down a problem into more familiar or even common-sense like concepts just didn't seem as golden as it used to. What mathematics had that made it shine above all other subjects just wasn't there anymore. It now became a case of 'deliberate practice' on whatever I could get my hands on, and I felt like I no longer enjoyed it or, in fact, I find it surprisingly difficult to enjoy anything in life anymore. it has been a while since I did anything for the purpose of simply getting enjoyment out of it, and the only reason I do the things I do now is to reach the goals that I so desperately want.
Nevertheless, I still want to see through my goal of getting into a top university no matter what, and once again find my love in mathematics sparked by something interesting. I know that I still must continue to grind problems, because every day I do not work hard, someone else does, and that someone else is securing the spot at cambridge/oxford and displacing me off it, and that is enough to keep me doing maths solely of the purpose of polishing my performance, because if I don't, at the end of the day, I will be a loser, a nobody.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Read about Hilberts problems and attempt to solve one of them.Now,go and learn all the maths tools in the world and attempt to solve either one of Hilberts problems or one of the millennium problems.
Original post by Kadak
Posted from TSR Mobile
Read about Hilberts problems and attempt to solve one of them.Now,go and learn all the maths tools in the world and attempt to solve either one of Hilberts problems or one of the millennium problems.
Read about Hilberts problems and attempt to solve one of them.Now,go and learn all the maths tools in the world and attempt to solve either one of Hilberts problems or one of the millennium problems.
Yh i reckon that should keep him busy for about 2 weeks. Then he will come and say he is bored.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by physicsmaths
Yh i reckon that should keep him busy for about 2 weeks. Then he will come and say he is bored.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
Rofl,your comment made my day 😃😄👍👏.
You haven't seen any hard mathematics yet, and you're already getting burned out by STEP/A-levels? 
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Dont wanna do medicine anymore, finance maybe?
- What do I do with my life?
- depressed because of a levels
- Re-entering Study 3 years after A Levels
- didnt pass physics GCSE tryna do biochem/chem degree
- 4 A-Levels: Maths, Physics, Further Maths, Economics
- Is a degree in 'Mathematics with Finance and Accounting' good?
- A level further maths worth it
- Third A level for Mathematics course: CS vs Psychology
- Mathematics Of Mechanics (yay)
- I feel like I have no true friends at uni, feeling lonely.
- UCL History Politics and Economics vs LSE International History
- Physics a level without maths a level
- Physics gcse maths help
- University Application - Cambridge, Imperial, UCL, Manchester, Eidngurgh
- Should I apply to Oxford for economics and management?
- How do I know if Maths is right for me at uni?
- Postgraduate Grade Worries
- B100 Business and management
- Choosing a course at university
Latest
Last reply 3 minutes ago
Official London School of Economics and Political Science 2024 Applicant ThreadLast reply 4 minutes ago
Worried about the acceptance of my A level Qualifications. Need an answerPosted 8 minutes ago
Silver idea digital citizen part three, sanitising a variableLast reply 8 minutes ago
Official Cambridge Postgraduate Applicants 2024 ThreadLast reply 11 minutes ago
Thinking of quitting my apprenticeshipLast reply 11 minutes ago
Latest widget moves to next 'page' too readily.Last reply 12 minutes ago
Official University of Bristol Offer Holders Thread for 2024 entryLast reply 17 minutes ago
Manchester computer science foundation year academic assessmentTrending
Last reply 1 day ago
Did Cambridge maths students find maths and further maths a level very easy?Last reply 2 weeks ago
Edexcel A Level Mathematics Paper 2 unofficial mark scheme correct me if wrongMaths
71
Trending
Last reply 1 day ago
Did Cambridge maths students find maths and further maths a level very easy?Last reply 2 weeks ago
Edexcel A Level Mathematics Paper 2 unofficial mark scheme correct me if wrongMaths
71
