UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES VISAYAS TACLOBAN COLLEGE

Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Zaskia A. Oliva
Bs Biology (1st Year)
Math 10 (H) Mathematics, Culture and Society
TOPIC: Numeracy and quantitative literacy
Student and public attitudes and perceptions of math

Growing up as a daughter of a civil engineer whose primary language is math, I was

exposed to numbers, equations, complex mathematical formulas at an early age by my father
hoping that I will develop love and interest in numbers. Instead of reading me fairy-tale books,
he constantly told me the importance of mathematics and why I should learn to love and
appreciate it. My father introduced me to the complicated, yet beautiful art of mathematics.
When I was in pre-elementary, I would always jump up and down with excitement
whenever our teacher teaches us mathematics but as the years went by, that excitement slowly
faded away. The 2d shapes I learned in pre-elementary became complicated geometry in high
school. The simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, became algebra which
involves constants and variables. Learning math became tough and less exciting not only for me
but for most of my classmates as well. However, my father once again made me realize the
beauty that mathematics holds. He told me that everything in this world can be expressed in
numbers and to prove his statement, he told me that instead of merely looking at a mountain, try
to imagine it as a series of numbers, formulas and try to use your imagination and with that, you
will be able to solve the height of any mountain, wherever you are without physically measuring
it from the bottom to the top. As a BS Biology student, I realized that mathematics is the
language of science and without math, science would meaningless. Learning mathematics is as
important as learning how to speak and how to write. Without mathematics, innovations and
technology will hardly come real, and we would not experience the comfort and convenience
that we are experiencing today. I understand why most people hate math, however, if we
understand it fully, we would appreciate its importance and we would have realized that it is not
as hard as we think it is.
To me mathematics is a piece of art, it may look complicated as it may seem but if we
look at it more closely, if we try to feel and understand it, if we try to use our imagination to
understand it more deeply, only then will we realize that mathematics is beautiful.