I seem to have found the perfect time to study for my Math
for Business and Finance Course: during
my lunch break. Each day, I get an hour
for lunch. This is perhaps the only
uninterrupted hour I have during the day, at least when I’m awake. I have eating with one hand and writing with
the other down to a fine science.
Because of my lunchtime cram sessions I am quickly making my
way through the third of four lessons contained in the course. I should be able to take the next exam in the
next week or so, after I pay to extend my current semester. At least I still have access to my online
student portal at the Penn Foster
College website.
Now that I have battled my way through various formulas and
algebraic equations in my math course, I am at the portion of the course which
actually deals with business. The
chapter which I’m currently studying deals with balance sheets, income
statements, financial ratios and trend analysis.
It’s funny, but a few short months ago, I wouldn’t have had
any idea what a balance sheet looked like, let alone what a business was
supposed to do with one. Now I’m
preparing balance sheets and applying them to real-world business
situations. I’m not saying I have
attained the knowledge of a Wharton student, but I now know what I didn’t know
before.
More importantly, I find myself actually using the math I have
learned during this course while I am on the job. My managers ask me to crunch numbers on merchandise
supply, shipping orders and discounts on merchandise. I am now able to pick up a calculator and
quickly spit out an answer, or better yet, figure it out in my head and give
them an answer. I have always considered
myself a math moron. I never would have
dreamed somebody would be asking ME the answer to a math problem!
I have a son in high school who is also struggling a bit
with algebra. He has tried to reason
with me that he will never use that kind of math in the “real world”. There was a time I might have agreed with
him. Now I can look him in the eye and
say “you WILL have to use this kind of math after you get out of school” and I
can give him some examples. I guess I’m
learning something after all.