A slice of understanding

A slice of understanding

Violet could never seem to understand math. Fractions, especially, were her worst nightmare. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to grasp them.

Her math teacher marked all of her tests in bright red pen with big red X's. Violet felt stupid and thought something might be wrong with her. How could her classmates be getting it, when she didn't understand at all?

At home, her parents tried tirelessly to teach her fractions, to no avail. Violet could see the frustration on her mom and dad's faces, and she would sit in her room and cry herself to sleep, questioning why she was so inadequate.

She went on to graduate from high school, scraping by with bare minimum math grades. In her last year, Violet had to go through summer school to retake her final math exam, passing by only 1%. She was so relieved to look at school in the rearview mirror and prayed that she'd never have to think about it again.

One night when Violet was 28 years old, she told her boyfriend Jonah about her experience with fractions, and how to that day, she still didn't comprehend them. She wanted to understand and felt sheepish even sharing this information with him.

Jonah brought Violet to the kitchen and opened the two pizza boxes that he had just ordered in a few minutes ago. "I want you to count the slices in here" he said, pointing to the food. Violet counted 10 slices in each box.

Jonah then proceeded to eat 2 slices from one box. "There were 10 slices before, now there are 8. So think of it this way, we had 10/10, now we have 8/10. We still have 80% of the pizza left". And just like that, for the first time in her life, Violet finally understood clear as day. A giant lightbulb went off!

Violet finally understood fractions!!!! She was filled with excitement. She suddenly felt smart, and hopeful.

It was only in her 40s that Violet decided to become an Educational Assistant. She was determined not to let any student feel the way that she did, if it was in her power.

Violet reminded every student she worked with that no matter how hard they struggled with something, she would help them figure it out. They were a team. They were not alone, and they certainly were not beyond help. She was absolutely intent on not letting any other child ever experience school the way that she did.