Kubsie's Korner
My Math Page

I Love Math! That statement usually sends people running for the hills. I usually get stories about how a person was horrible in math and that they gave it up in high school as soon as they could. I think this is unfortunate...the really fun stuff starts in second year university! I started being a math geek at a very young age. I have a fond memory of the kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Good, asking for us to write down numbers from one to ten. I skipped the first half of story time to continue writing all the numbers from one to one hundred. We'll blame my parents for this, they're both really good with numbers and taught me well. Grade school was pretty standard for math, everyone is taught the same thing. I went to high school at Grand River Collegiate Institute and really got into math. I joined the Junior Math League so I could get out of a few classes once a month. I had so much fun that Junior Math League turned into Senior Math League and I also joined the National Math League. My final year of high school found me taking Calculus, Algebra, and Finite maths all in the morning. Along with my math courses I was also taking computer courses. I joined the Computer Science team as well. When it came time to start looking for a University there was only one place to go...computer science/math at the University of Waterloo. I was accepted into Computer Science at Waterloo in 1995. This started a very long trip to graduation! Academically, I had a few rough spots when I started. I ended up failing too many courses in my second term and ended up in General Mathematics. I pretty much flunked because I was too busy doing extra curricular stuff...and playing euchre in the 'comfy' lounge. After that I started working full time and doing my degree part time. I pulled up my socks and discovered that if you actually do your homework, school is really easy! Algebra and Geometry became my favourite classes, followed closely by C&O (Combinatoric and Optimization). Finally, in April 2006 I wrote my last final, which was Statistics, and in June I convocated with a Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath). When I finally graduated I got the opportunity to donate money to the faculty of mathematics and get my own prime number. 2006, 11 years, 1 degree! Over my 11 years doing a 3 year general degree I noticed and experienced a lot of fond memories... When I graduated in 2006, most of my fellow graduants hadn't started high school when I started university. I got to see generations of my Frosh (first year students in my care during Orientation week) graduate before me. I will remember the Red Room, which was the actual heart of the math building as it was red, dead center, and housed arcane computer equipment. It was dismantled in 2000 to make way for new, smaller computing equipment. I used to have to stand in 3 hour lines to pay my fees and select my courses. Now you choose your courses and pay your fees online. I was present for the 1996 Pink Tie theft attempt. This was the last serious tempt to remove the Pink Tie from the side of the Mathematics building during Frosh Week. I even helped chase the culprit through the math building only to lose him in the Davis Center. I got to meet Ralph Stanton, the man who helped make the Faculty of Mathematics a separate faculty from Arts. (There are only two universities in the world that offer a Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath), University of Waterloo and a university in Moscow. All other universities offer a Bachelor of Arts specializing in math (BA).) I got to take part in the infamous mathSOC hot tub end of term party. (It was a bit extravagant for a term party but it was a blast!) I realize that I spent way too many hours in the math building lounge playing euchre to appease Zoggo, God of the Comfy Lounge. I will remember that members of the TLO (Tie Liberation Organization) are still at large.