Kyla Gabriella Reyes BSN 1-B

I will start this reflection by saying that I have never appreciated math more than I
have right now, as I am writing this. After reading only the second chapter of the
book "Nature's Numbers" by Ian Stewart, I have realized more things about
mathematics than I have during all my years as a student, one of them being that
math is literally everywhere, almost like an omnipresent being; and also how greatly
math has affected my life without me even realizing.

One of the things that mathematics has done for me is make my life convenient. I
owe all the convenience that I am enjoying right now to math. I am even writing
this on my laptop right now thanks to the algorithms that make up Microsoft Word.
Almost all the daily activities that I do are made possible by math. I can watch TV,
go on my phone, surf the internet, ride a car, live in a stable home that I'm sure
won't collapse anytime soon because of the calculations that made sure it won't
happen, cook, clean, organize my clothes, send a message to someone, and so
much more.

Even when I think of the life I'm going to have in the future with me being a
professional involved in the health sciences, I can think of so many things that are
still going to be affected by math one way or another. As a nurse in the future, I'm
sure I'm going to need math to calculate the proper dosages for all the solutions
and medications that I'm going to be administering to future patients. Calculating
the right dosage is very important because the effectivity of the medication relies
heavily on it. Calculating is a skill that has been nurtured by mathematics from the
time we learned how to walk as toddlers, barely putting our feet in front of one
another at just the right distance to retain our balance; and even way before that.

Calculating isn't the only skill that math has allowed us to develop though, other
skills are our abilities to reason, to be creative, to think critically, and to solve
problems. I am who I am now because of math. I believe that my intelligence is
greatly affected and influenced by it, and also that I think the way I think because
of it. I want to believe that I'm going to be a good nurse in the future because of
the skills that I have now.

However, mathematics in the health sciences isn't only limited to the individual or
the professional who is involved in it. It is also present in the machines, the
computers, the engineering, and all the technology that is seen and used in
hospitals, health centers, laboratories, pharmacies, and private clinics.

I have yet to go on a long and hard journey before I make it successfully as a health
professional and I'm sure that the technologies are going to be even more advanced
by then, more advanced than the x-rays, and all the body scans that are interpreted
using math. I can only hope that they're even more helpful in maintaining and
promoting the quality of life of all humans, especially Filipinos. And when I see these
advances in the future, I'll make sure to remember who, or rather, what to thank,
Kyla Gabriella Reyes BSN 1-B

because almost nothing is impossible without math.