Math fever

Mathematics was not one of my favorite subjects in secondary school. This was not really my fault, as somehow I had bad luck with getting good teachers that taught topics like physics and mathematics. My physics teacher back then would literally come into the class, talk to the board, refuse to answer our question and then leave.

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Our mathematics teacher, on the other hand, was not that different.

STUDENTS: Sir, we don't understand how to use the formula you applied to solve the question.

MATH TEACHER: How is that my business?

STUDENTS: But sir, that is why you are our teacher, kindly explain to us.

MATH TEACHER: Go and ask your parents at home.

This was how classes ended most of the time. I refused to do further math then because of this same man. Warnings from my sister that I would meet mathematics in the university, and it would be more of further math, fell on deaf ears. I told her I would take my chances of learning it in the university than suffering in the man's class.

In my first year in the university, I discovered she was right. Math 101 and 102 were compulsory courses with 3 credit units each. Thankfully, the lecturers were much better than what I was used to regarding the topic, so I learned easily. Anything that I didn't understand, I asked my new friend Favor. She was a math quiz and made me start loving the subject.

We were eventually given a handbook which contained the courses we would be offering as Agric. Economics students from 100 level to final year. I kept on seeing STAT 202 as a second year course, and from the description I deduced it involved calculation. Out of curiosity, my friends and I asked the 200 level students back then about the course, and they scared us with their warnings.

So before I even got to second year, I had made up my mind not to miss any of the classes and take the course serious. On the first day of STAT class, I remember my conversation with my friends.

“The course is not as hard as I thought” I said.

“Yes, I thought it would be more complicated. The lecturer also makes the class interesting” Favor replied.

“Whether it's easy or hard, what I know is that I don't comprehend how you girls understand this topic” Mmeso replied in her usual goofy way. We laughed and teased her about not being serious with anything involving calculation, except she was calculating money.

As time went on, I discovered the beginning of statistics is the easy part. Statistics involves a lot of data and formulas, the more intriguing the topic got, the more complicated it got. We bought statistics tables for solving most questions. Before we knew it, the time for the quiz was fast approaching.

“How are we supposed to know all these formulas off heart. What is chi-square, how do we use this t-table graph?” Mmeso complained during one of our study sessions.

“What about correlation and regression? Why can't this people just teach us farming and leave the economics part of this course?” I asked.

Favor laughed and offered to help us revise. It turned out the quiz was full of the easy part of the course and everyone was happy about it. The rest of the topics were tackled with gusto by all the 200 level students. We tried to do the necessary things like taking quiz, being present in class and doing assignments because we discovered a lot of carry over students in our lecture hall.

The examination timetable came out, and we discovered that our lecturer had fixed STAT 202 to be a computer based test exam. We didn't know whether to be happy or sad because we knew this course required a lot of calculation. If it was going to be CBT you couldn't pause the time on the computer when solving the questions unlike paper and pen that would give us ample time to solve.

On the day of the exam, I was feeling pretty good, as I had prepared to the best of my ability. I kept on hearing whispers of how the exam would be just as easy as the quiz, if not, why would the lecturer decide to make it CBT? We watched as other departments were called first, and they trooped in to take their exams.

To our surprise, they started coming out of the computer hall barely 30 minutes later. They were looking dazed and some had tears in their eyes.

“I hope those are tears of joy” Favor said to me looking confused.

Before our department was called in, some students had gotten the information from those who had written that the exam was 20 minutes and 10 questions. We didn't believe them until most of us got in and logged into our systems.

Shouts of disbelief filled the hall. Mmeso who was asked to sit beside me kept on going through the questions shouting “JESUS!” I was still solving the second question when I looked up and discovered I had barely 10 minutes left.

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Mmeso was busy clicking without solving. She must have looked at my system because she whispered:

“Loveth, you better do what the rest of us are doing, your time is almost up”

I ignored her and began solving question number 3. Mmeso kept on whispering furiously at me to check the time.

“Leave me alone!” I screamed at her, and my voice got the attention of one of the invigilators.

“What is going on there?” He asked, walking towards us.

“Sir, I was just telling her that she's running out of time” Mmeso replied.

The man looked at my system and realized I'd answered only four questions.

“Submit if you're done, if she wants to fail, leave her to fail!” he replied.

I finally took Mmeso's advice after the 5th question, and I realized I had just a minute left. I managed to pick about 3 answers randomly before the system submitted my exam, and I was logged out.

When the results came out, everyone was sweating profusely and shaking. I was one of the lucky ones that escaped rewriting the course. That was one of the exams that I passed by the skin of my teeth. Funny enough, Mmeso's guess work earned her a higher grade than the rest of us who attempted to solve 10 hard questions in twenty minutes. Favor, myself and Mmeso breathed sighs of relief when we saw our grades.

“It's either my system was not normal or it's a miracle that occurred for me to pass this course” Mmeso screamed happily.

“My dear, you need to go for thanksgiving in church” Favor replied laughing.

I was too excited to stay still, I just kept on hugging them and smiling. After confirming my grade which was a D by the way about five more times from the exam officer, I finally believed I had scaled through.

“Let's go home please” I said to them smiling as if I’d won a lottery. That smile always come to my face whenever I remember the invigilator's words, “If she wants to fail, leave her to fail”. I actually thought of looking for him to inform him that I didn't really fail!