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August 01, 2007
An English major’s obsession with math.
Tags: education, math, sacramentoJust yesterday I found out that someone who made an important contribution to who I am, passed away last week.
I took two years of high school algebra from Agnes Bailey. She was a tough but fair teacher and as far as I am concerned, one of the most effective teachers I have ever had. I can’t pinpoint any particular method that she used because she wasn’t prone to gimmicks. She cared about Sacramento High, she cared about math, and she cared about her students, and it came through in everything she did. In fact, my biggest regret in high school is that I stopped caring about math. Ms. Bailey almost had to flunk me because I stopped listening, stopped doing the work, and stopped studying for the exams. How I managed a “D” is beyond me (I remember I started my second semester strong, which is probably why I didn’t flunk).
In my senior year, Ms. Bailey was the “coach” for our academic decathlon team, such as it was. Even though we were two students short (we needed a team of six but only four of us showed up), we competed anyway. It was important to her that Sac High be there, even if we couldn’t earn enough points to get out of near last place. During lunch at the competition we were chatting and I mentioned that I had scored exceptionally well on the math portion of the SATs, higher, in fact, than on the verbal portion. I probably also apologized for my dismal performance the prior year. She nodded and said “I knew you had it in you.”
Her words have haunted me ever since. My junior year math class was the predecessor to calculus. Now, whenever I have one of those “I’m late for class” or “I forgot to go to class all term” dreams, it is about calculus. I never took calculus. My psyche is trying to tell me that Agnes Bailey was right, that it’s in there and it wants out. It knows that I need to complete the work she started back in 1986.
It is also because of Agnes Bailey that I still remember the words to the Sac High fight song.
Fight Dragons fight, for the purple and the white…
I remember she wore a lot of purple.
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What a nice tribute. If you ever get the chance to take the class you missed in high school, I think you’ll be happy you did.
August 03, 2007 @ 6:29 am
When were you at Sac High? I am class of 91 and my dearest, she is class of 92.
August 11, 2007 @ 10:15 am
1984-88
August 11, 2007 @ 10:22 am
Wow.That is so touching.It almost made me cry.I love it.
August 12, 2007 @ 5:28 am
Did you find that you didn’t realize what an impact she had on you until you knew that she was gone, or had you thought of her in the past 20 or so years? I’m just curious — I’ll sometimes be reading the obituaries and find someone I hadn’t thought about in some time, and it sparks all kinds of memories and occasionally the “ah ha!” moment when I realize how that person changed me.
I’m an ‘88 grad too, from Placer up in Auburn.
August 14, 2007 @ 8:54 am
Runner - no, actually, she’s always been someone I’ve remembered fondly from the HS days. I’m still in touch with one of my other teachers from HS, and I’d periodically ask him about her.
She was also one of the rare adults I actually felt I let down — not exactly a common feeling for a teenager. Although really, the person I let down most was myself.
But I know what you mean about the “a-ha moments” the obits have prompted a few of those over the years.
I’m also a little scared that I’m starting to read the obits regularly. Geez, I’m just not that old.
August 14, 2007 @ 10:23 am
I wouldn’t regret taking calculus if I were you. Sometimes you just find the “right” path in life and everything else loses meaning to you because you have no passion for it. It’s hard to excel at something you’re not passionate about.
I aced every math class up until I took calculus. I had Bs in high school and I think a C- in college when I took it again. I think it helped me realize that engineering wasn’t the place for me and that I was passionate about urban planning.
Of course, perhaps that was a dumb move because I’d probably be making a lot more money right now. I’d probably still be living in Illinois too and not had the experience of living in this beautiful state
August 27, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
Eric, that’s the irony. I was always passionate about math and always excelled at it (I was, lets face it, an excellent student). But when push came to shove and I got myself a girlfriend, something had to go. Since at the time I thought my path was with words instead of numbers, it was math.
Now I’m in a quantitative field. Go figure.
August 27, 2007 @ 7:53 pm