Caitrin, fwiw, I found school the worst place to learn math. I managed to make it through stats and calculus, but I did poorly in every class, and here is why.

I learned how to APPLY the material from each course (which I had barely passed) in the subsequent course, causing me to barely grasp the material from that course, until I had to apply it in the next course. E.g., I finally UNDERSTOOD algebra when I got into geometry and trig. I didn't understand geo. and trig. until I got to calculus.

There must be some holistic strategy for teaching math so that students like me are not frustrated into thinking they're math idiots by the academic constraints of the semester schedule and grades. In school I always thought I was mathematically impaired, but now I actually find some concepts best expressed in math, and enjoy the challenge of expressing them.

Flatland is great. I hope you enjoy it.

V