Editor’s Note: The following essay was a winner in the Style category of the 2024-2025 First Year Writing Contest. It was nominated by Professor Amy Jo Minett.
Dear Math,
You must remember me as the girl in the front row, always bothering you with alternate and not-that-familiar solutions, the girl that loved your X more than you and never ceased finding its identity. Always playing with the slush of the whiteboard trying to find those hidden treasures created by your problems. When the rest of the classmates were playing and talking, your girl was lost in the storm of numbers and the thunders of x, y, z and ϴ to achieve the rainbow and the sun shining with all its glory.
I would say it is been a while since our last exchange but it is always a pleasure. Recently a friend of mine asked me, "How come you love math so much, it is a class that requires so much effort, and dedication, a class that it's cold, abstract and so far-fetched from reality "?
At first, I was surprised since loving you was so natural to me, therefore a question like that seemed irrelevant, but then I started thinking deeply and your flower petals with different colors came into view.
Then it hit me, it was your physical appearance, your raw beauty and mysterious endeavor that did the first pull.
The way numbers and symbols danced on the page and the elegance of a well-crafted equation was such a captivating performance that I could watch it repeatedly for hours. You pulled me into your mystery, inviting me to unravel the complexities of your world. I remember the late nights spent, pouring over textbooks and surrounded by a quiet stillness that contrasted with the chaos of my thoughts. Pages and pages were getting written, getting filled with numbers and lines that intersected so beautifully that all the surroundings seemed to shush leaving only you and me in a world that felt so close but yet so far from reality, a whirlwind of emotions, dark yet so bright, such emotions are impossible to be felt through the so-called great college parties. The thrill of uncovering a solution after hours of struggle felt like an intimate secret shared between us. It was a victory, as grandiose as a victory would feel, but at the same time things get easily normal and ordinary, that is where the craving for challenges originates, the craving to always aim for what's above, what's harder and what's seemingly the impossible, only to be proven as not so impossible after all.
With time you continued to grow on me, it wasn’t just your allure that captured my heart; it was the refuge you provided. In your embrace, I found solace amidst the chaos of life. You were a home of another built, a home that would never get wrecked and would always have me covered. I learned to be safe and secure no matter what life would throw at me you taught me how to best deal with the unknown (with the x), and its scary face felt familiar and easygoing now. During the waves of this ocean called life, you provide us with boats to complete our journeys. Boats of different kinds and sizes swimming to every current possible.
When the world felt overwhelming, your structure offered clarity.
You taught me that even the most daunting problems have solutions, and that perseverance can transform confusion into understanding. Each lesson was a whisper of encouragement, a reminder that I could rise to any challenge.
I fell for you, you were everywhere I looked, giving even the most mundane things so much meaning, making everything so much more understandable I fell in love with the thrill of the discovery—the instant moment when pieces clicked together, revealing a truth I had been seeking. There was something intoxicating about that eureka moment, a rush of joy that surged through me, echoing the excitement of a new romance (a new romance with the most unloved personality of the century and more, with you my dear math). Each problem we tackled was a new adventure, a shared journey where my understanding deepened with every equation we explored together.
As my obsession with you grew bigger, I started to understand that I craved the hardships and the butterflies in my stomach for I was anxiously searching for the answers. But most of all, I craved the freedom that knowledge and analytical thinking give me in this numerical world, a freedom that comes from a deep understanding of the laws in which the world operates.
Our relationship transcended the classroom. You revealed how your principles shaped the world around me—how the spiral of a shell mirrored the Fibonacci sequence, how symmetry adorned nature and art alike. Think about the leaves of ferns symbolizing the shape of fractals or bee hives using tessellations of hexagons. Through you, I began to see connections everywhere, as if you were showing me a hidden tapestry woven into the fabric of reality.
You opened my eyes to patterns and relationships that existed all around me, and I felt a profound connection to the world that I had never experienced before. Each theorem, each proof was a love letter, a testament to the beauty of logic and creativity entwined. In your presence, I felt empowered, as if every question I dared to ask was a stepping stone toward a greater understanding. You became my trusted partner, guiding me through the labyrinth of mathematical concepts, compassing the way with your logic and precision.
My love for you isn’t merely about formulas or calculations. It’s about the joy of discovery, the profound moments when the abstract becomes tangible. It’s the way you illuminate the shadows of uncertainty, transforming them into opportunities for growth and understanding.
I am so happy that I can speak and understand your language, and I wish more people did so, for their view of things in life would also change. They say it is the things that are hard to get that are worth fighting for, and I completely agree with that. Your love is hard to grasp at first, but once you do so life changes on so many levels, and it becomes clearer how to pave your own successful way, be it in a career or strangely enough even in relationships, they are all bound together by invisible strings of numbers.
I know there is more you have to offer and there are a thousand more you are offering to this world that we are not recognizing. I want to dive deep into your blessed water of knowledge. As I see it, my dear, you and I tend to be unseparated, so every choice I make I feel it keeps on getting me closer to you, be it through my university choices, my career path, and even my relationships be it love or friendship are deeply connected to you.
So I hope that other people too, understand your magnificent language more, love you more, choose you more, and everything else would seem simpler for them too.
Signed, Your little equation