Math Is Everywhere

What is math?

Every time math is brought up in everyday conversations, I cringe. The collective sighs and groans of those around me sound like nails on a chalkboard. I try to empathize with my peers, but there are some things I cannot agree with. "Why do I even need to learn this, it's not like I need math for everyday life." That sad misinformed phrase sounds like a firing squad rearing to execute my dreams.

So what is math? Math is sexy. Yes, I said it and I will scream it 'til my lungs burn. Math is sexy and beautiful and amazing. Math connects everything in the known universe. There is literally nothing that we know of that doesn't involve math. When you're sick, that doctor who's treating you? Yeah, they're using math.

But it's more than that. Math is music. Math is art. Math has been around forever, but we as humans have been granted the honor of cracking its code.

Math is a constant in an ever-changing world. When I was constantly moving from house to house and state to state, 1+1 always equaled 2. When I was bullied in elementary and middle school for being too fat, 4x2 always equaled 8. When I finally grasped what divorce was or realized that, no matter how many times I prayed on the stars, my family would never look like the happy ones on TV, 3 squared always equals 9.

Anything multiplied by 0 will equal 0 and the square root of something squared equals itself. In a world that has a special way of letting me down, math was always there to pick up the pieces of my shattered dreams and find the mean by finding the meaning and making things average by taking the average. Math is all around us.

So, next time you want to talk badly about math, just try and solve this simple equation. If X represents all the reasons that math is useless, how many of you can still say that you don't need math? Give up? Here is a hint. X equals zero. 

With a Perspective, I am Nia Brown.

Nia Bown is 18 and a senior at the Community Learning Center in Alameda.