We Need More Math Than We Realize

We+Need+More+Math+Than+We+Realize

Maddy Hardy, Staff

Every year, almost every student has that one class they can’t stand. The one that makes them want to tear their hair and throw their notebook out the window. And for lots of students, that class is math. Students complain about math all the time, saying that we don’t actually need as much as we’re forced to learn. But that’s not actually true.

Math is a very useful skill to for someone to have a successful future. There are hundreds of jobs that require basic and college-level math. And everyone uses math in their everyday life, whether they like it or not.

“It’s not gonna be a constant, but in my field, you have to be able to use conversion, figure out what the transfer speed is of some sort of device or VM, and figure out it’s bandwidth,” Randy Hardy—a Cloud Technologies Engineer for Costco—stated.

He went on to talk about the other requirements for his job, which he said uses math everyday. There are similar jobs to his, such as Computer Scientists. Computer Scientists earn a median of $110,620/yr, and they use math for studying algorithms, implimenting computing systems, and a variety of other tasks.

Leslie Hansen, an RN Nurse Care Manager, also said that she uses math every single day. She “kept building more education” to get to where she is now.

There are many different jobs that one might not think could use math. Especially in the arts. But there’s actually way more than you’d think! A few examples include Graphic Designers, Animators, Product Designers, and 3D Modelers. And in addition to these jobs, there’s also everyday tasks that require basic math skills. Telling the time, cooking and baking, and even just understanding the world around you all require some semblance of math.

Math can be a key skill to success in your future. And even though success can be measured in many different ways, both Randy Hardy and Leslie Hansen agreed that one way to know if you’re successful is to ask yourself, “Are you still learning?”