For the last seven weeks on Monday and Wednesday nights I have been taking a graduate level statistics class. I am an English literature major. Two years ago, I took financial, managerial and cost accounting over 14 weeks and that nearly killed me. It took me this long to muster enough courage to take this class and, again, I nearly died. Metaphorically, that is.
I am 50 years old and many nights I sit in my bedroom or at the dining room table trying to learn these formulas and be able to articulate the results in plain, simple English. But more often then not, I invert the answers and while it looks really great and pretty sophisticated, it’s incorrect.
Unlike with my accounting class, I at least have a thicker skin now and a sense of humor about all of this silliness. Will I ever look at a Z statistic again after Monday night? I doubt it.
But what this class has done for me is open up a whole new way of thinking, which at this portion of my life is pretty exciting. I can now look at research reports and discern from this rudimentary knowledge I have acquired whether it’s good or bad. I can question variables that are poured into statistical formulas. I think that’s pretty cool.
What I think this class has also done for me is ward off early onset of dementia. I have wracked my brain trying to wedge in this new knowledge — so much so it hurts.
But I almost feel triumphant and I know when I wake up the morning after my final exam there will be a sense of elation no matter what the grade, simply because I stuck it out and dove into the mystery of statistical analysis with an open mind and heart.
And I can bounce out of bed and shout “Ta Da.”
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i use a combo of shea butter and aloe vera moisturizer. Works great. I use shea butter on my lips, around my eyes and nose (dry areas), My father swears by vasoline.
p.s. I dropped your name on Gina's post, Barb. ;)
Brava – I admire you! Stats nearly killed me when I was 21…can’t imagine facing them now at 51.
I am currently even procrastinating on studying the safe boating manual in order to take the Canadian Boater Exam before September 1st (when they are due to make it longer and harder). I am worried about taking a 35 question multiple choice test, so graduate level stats really seems beyond imagining!
WOW – MY HAT’S OFF TO YOU!! DID A STATISTICS COURSE 20 YEARS AGO AND THO IT WAS VERY VERY DIFFERENT — I GOT A BIT DISAPPOINTED WHEN I LEARNED THERE WAS A +- DEGREE OF ERROR. I THOUGHT NUMBERS NEVER LIED — WRONG!!! ALSO WAS TOLD BY THE PROFESSOR THAT IF MY STATISTICS DON’T MATCH MY HYPOTHESIS — CHANGE THE HYPOTHESIS — NOW THAT IS A BIT TOO CREATIVE – DONTCHA THINK??? ALSO WE GOT TO USE OUR SCIENTIFIC CALCULATORS DURING EXAMS — WHICH WAS PRETTY GOOD AS I COULD NEVER HAVE REMEMBERED ANY OF THE FORMULAE.
AGAIN — HATS OFF!!
OK – statistics – not into it. However, the course that I’m taking now involves math and I was NEVER any good at math in my younger years. I was so bad I can’t even figure out soduko even though I see EVERYONE doing it. This course is making me think about numbers and I find that I’m trying harder than ever regarding that because I wasted so much of my youth NOT thinking about numbers and failed math miserably. My intentions are to do MUCH BETTER this go around!!! I agree that it helps to fend off dementia.
I will be 64 on September 29th and taking my first EVER Biology class!
As for stats, etc….I work in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at a University (was’t my choice), and have not one clue. I am a dancer, singer, author and poetess….blunked math in high school, LOL
Don’t know why I challenge myself so much, LOl, LOL