My Horrific Farewell to Math

Folly almost brought me down. At the end of my college days, I needed only one more class to fulfill my math major. I looked over the course offerings, and saw one titled "Introductory Algebra". It was a 5000-level class, which meant it was a Master's Degree course, but since it had the word "introductory" in it, I decided it couldn't be too bad, and signed up.

On the first day, Dr. Michaels (for whom the math building was later named) took one step inside the door and began working a problem on the blackboard. He took one wall to prove what 2 is; he then took a second wall to prove what 4 is; he then took two more walls to prove that two wall ones equaled one wall two.

He finished the final blackboard just as the bell rang. He gave us our homework assignment, and then walked out the door. I knew I was in big trouble. I barely made it through that class. It was probably the iffiest segment of my college career.

The Lord brought good out of this scholastic disaster. It taught me I had gone as far as I could go in math. This was good to know, because the school offered me a teaching-assistant job, which would have let me secure a Masters Degree in Math, instead of going to seminary to do post-grad work in theology. I was able to quickly tell my college no. The Lord in His grace made it an easy decision to make. Off to seminary I went.

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