What it Takes to Become a Mathematician

A mathematician is a person who is an expert in mathematics; this implies that such a person has to take mathematics as a course of study from the primary to the tertiary institution. To mathematicians, mathematics is the best subject in the world. Suffice it to say that they passionately love the subject and always want to solve any mathematical problem they come across.

Mathematics is necessary in all areas of life, as research as shown that virtually nothing can be done without Mathematics, for this reason, all companies, organizations, firms and many others have mathematicians on the staff.

How can one become a mathematician? This is a question that has been asked times without number. In the world today, everyone has his or her own area of specialization. Firstly, check yourself, do you love mathematics? Is it your line? You need to know if you love calculations, shapes and if you love to play with numbers. How do you feel when your Mathematics teacher comes to your class to teach the subject? Do you have visions that one day you will make some laws like our past mathematicians like Pythagoras, Hero and if you go further you hear of Pascal, Binomial, Poisson, and Normal whom their laws are applied in Mathematics? Do you enjoy solving Mathematics? If you have positive answers to the above questions, then know that Mathematics is your line and you can build yourself to become a mathematician.

To become a mathematician is not a child's play but it requires some effort put in place. After confirming that Mathematics is your line in the secondary institution (after about two years spent there), you make up your mind that you will always solve Mathematics everyday. Note the FIRST RULE that is Be Happy. Initially you may not really work alone, but some synergy has to be put in place. Start with the Mathematics textbook you used in your first year when you were in the primary institution, read and study the examples, and then work the exercises that follow , do this from the first page to the very last page, then you go further to the second textbook you used in the primary school and so on consecutively. If you come across any question that you are unable to solve or an example that you do not understand, politely call a teacher, an expert or even a friend to practice with you, ensure that problem is solved before moving ahead. Initially the work may look very lengthy, but if you do it everyday, you will enjoy it and you will find out that you are improving by the day.

After you must have followed the procedure above, you can start with your secondary school textbooks, from the very first one you used, read , study the examples from the first page, work the exercises beneath, try your best to solve all the problems you see, do not be lazy, beat your brain. Before you give anybody to assist you, make sure you must have solved the problem over and over. When solving problems in secondary school textbooks, they may look voluminous, some workings may look lengthy, then you follow the SECOND RULE, that is Be Optimistic (Believe that you are able to solve the problem) , continue trying, you may come across some tricky questions that you are unable to solve, but because of the fact that you are optimistic, you can rest, lie down, begin to think of the question, think of the solution, imagine the solution to the question, then while thinking, you may just get the solution to the problem. Immediately you think of the solution, do not be lazy to stand up, pick up your pen and attempt the question, do this for all tricky problems. When doing this continuously, if there are still some mathematical problems you are unable to solve, when you go to bed at night, let you mind be focused on that problem, by so doing the chances of your solving the question increases.

` After doing this for about three years in the secondary school, you need to begin to read wide, do not limit yourself to only one textbook, use different textbooks written by different authors as some things that are lacking in one textbook may just be in some others. Work very hard, at this stage, you need to devote more time to solving Mathematics, if you have been following these procedures, you will definitely be one of the best Mathematicians in your secondary school, and you may be chosen to represent your school for competitions. It is here you know your ability, you know your weak points, always work on your weak- point, and do not hate any topic in Mathematics.
Moreover, the THIRD LAW is Understand the Question, in this stage you need to work on speed and accuracy. Always time yourself , solve practice and solve questions, an average O' Level question should be solved in about twenty-five to thirty seconds, JAMB and other higher levels should be timed at about fifty-four seconds per question. You can attempt fifty questions, and time yourself with about forty-five minutes, this practice must be continuous, make sure the attempt all the questions in the past question booklet. If your performance is not very good initially, do not be discouraged, still work on that speed and solve all questions you were unable to solve. If you have the strength, these past questions should be an appetizer, before eating or doing anything in the morning, pick a past question, make sure you attempt fifty to sixty questions, mark them and make corrections. Do this regularly, it will get to a stage where you will not even miss a single question, here you feel it in your Spirit that you are a Mathematician, it is here it seems like Mathematics is in your blood.

People may bring questions for you to solve, be always ready to attempt the questions, use different textbooks, from and outside your country, Mathematics becomes part of you as you practice and it gives you confidence, then you can boldly say "You are a Mathematician."