Let me tell the story of my “#math #pencil”.
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Let me tell the story of my “#math #pencil”.
My dad was a bit of a draftsman in his day. He was a builder and so he had some nice mechanical pencils and straight edges. At some point in high school he gave me one of his nice mechanical pencils. 0.2mm lead. Nice grip.
Throughout my high school career I used it in math class (and sciences like physics and chemistry) because it was nice and it was comfortable.
Fast forward to college and the same thing: I used it in all my math classes. It had become my “math pencil.” All my mathematical knowledge (sparse as it is) is in that pencil.
This is my middle boy’s first semester at #college and I bequeathed to him the math pencil as he packed for college. He may very well end up a math minor. I just got an update and he’s getting outstanding grades in math. Linear algebra final coming up on Tuesday.
It was just an ordinary pencil. But through sorta habit and happenstance, and some good luck I kept it 30 years to hand it down.
My own path to college wasn’t great. Pretty much whatever was in the back of my dad’s Buick when I went to college is all I carried from childhood to adulthood. (That’s another story) but the pencil is one of those things and it was great to pass it on.
#university #inheritance #family
