I was always good at Maths but didn't find it interesting and was never really given the confidence to pursue it. Being in the top set with some really gifted people didn't help, as they were on another level and it made me feel like I wasn't good enough.
On the other hand both of my parents were really in to history and i'd grown up in that mindset, whether it was visiting places of historical interest on holiday or reading adult hardbacks from my Dad's bookshelf before i'd even left primary school. I always found it really interesting to learn.
I don't know how it is now, but when I was at school I found that if you were good at Maths or Science you were often the target for abuse by some of the other kids - "nerd" "boffin" "swot" etc. Whereas nobody really cared if you were top of the class in an arts subject.