Math 1030 Quantitative Reasoning Reflection

        Math 1030 was both educational and practical for my everyday life. Having never been the best with money(albeit able to get by), the skills I learned in this class have well prepared me by giving me the ability to quantitatively reason if a finance plan is in my best interest or not. I have learned how to figure out the area of soil, mulch, or rocks that would be needed to complete my garden project in my backyard. I can determine the height of an object based on how far I am away from it, and the angle created from where I stand. I can figure out the length of Christmas lights I will need to purchase when, I begin to add them to my house this holiday. I can reasonably determine the probability of an event occurring given enough data, such as a lot of gambling games you would find in Vegas(a trip I have taken many times). I can adjust everyday cooking recipes to make the quantities I need for any occasion. When going to the grocery story, I can determine what products are better values, using serving size and cost, which can then be compared with others. I can read a preference schedule and determine a winner using many voting methods. If I go shopping and find a sale with multiple discounts, I can figure out the final cost of the product without having to bother a sales clerk to look up a price (an inconvenience I have never been fond of).

          Before taking this course I had embarked on a journey across many states and a province. When I planned the trip I purchased plane and hotel tickets one at a time, normally in order. Had I understood graph theory, I would have no doubt saved a ton of money in that journey. I am thankful I know it now, so if I ever feel the urge to once again go on a crazy long trip alone, I will be able to make good decisions in the planing, using these math skills. I am also an avid bicyclist, and could use graph theory when planning routes around town, much like mailmen do to establish the best or shortest route to take understanding them to be the most distance or time efficient. Growth modeling have all sorts of applications, such as population projections, which I could use if I am ever able to get that large fish tank I have always wanted. Using the finance tools we learned, I now know what a silly purchase my Firebird was, and should really consider starting a retirement plan as soon as possible, so I can live with relative comfort when I am older(assuming the world doesn’t fully collapsed by then). I am able to see the biases the random statistics I view everyday likely have, and have the ability to seek out more research on any I wish to explore. I know the terms used in a study, and will now be able to perform one more readily than before, to give as accurate results or display the data I collect in a concise way, using a frequency chart of histogram. These and many other calculations that I was not able to do before this class, have prepared me for far more useful applications of math that I can use on a regular basis. I will succeed now, where I would have before failed, had it not been for taking this course and I am truly grateful that I did.