“Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and charge!” These are the words I hear as I proceed taking notes from my clinical shadowing experience. Continuing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, one of the doctors announces, “We are losing him!” Dreadfully, all of the doctors and nurses look at the cardiac monitor’s path as it diminishes into smaller peaks with the accompanying rhythmic “beep-beep.” The dashing doctors inject epinephrine and continue to prepare for the next shock to occur. However, a list of questions passes through my mind. How much epinephrine do you inject? How much of voltage do you set on the AED?

I reminisce about that moment until I am scolded by my math teacher for not paying attention. “What do you want to pursue as a career?” asks my math teacher, Mr. Hockman. I respond as I zone into reality, “A neurosurgeon, sir.” He looks at me steadily and then presses firmly at the folds of his forehead. He breathes in and asks, “How do you think a neurosurgeon knows which treatment is most beneficial? Or how much medication to prescribe? Math is an essential subject. It is needed in real life situations. If you are in dire need of evidence, then look around you. As a matter of fact, this is homework for everyone. I want everyone to write a page of an event/subject and tie it to how math is present.” As everyone groans in annoyance, I look down and reflect on what he said.

I look down at a blank unwrinkled sheet of paper and ponder on what to write. “Surely there must be something related to math.” I ask myself and then giggle as I say, “Okay. If I pay tuition and half the rent, I can buy enough rice to last for three-fifths of the month.” My apathy towards math does not help my writer’s block; therefore, I lose focus on my main goal. Where do I start? How can I tie a subject to a career? I look at my thick binder and encounter my notes from my Clinical class. Scanning through my notes, I spot the time where I watched my first Code Blue, an emergency situation when a patient is in cardiopulmonary arrest. I started thinking about the smallest details in the medical field that tie to mathematics. The way it relates to my ideal career provide an eye opener to my perspective of math. I was mesmerized with how one of the most hated subjects is, in reality, everywhere. The fact that the doctors have to be careful with how much dose intake can the patients have.

After this revelation, I decided to investigate more by browsing over other career fields. I seek for the purpose in math in careers which has brought me to admire the wonders of math. I wrote and wrote until my astonishment of this discovery was satisfied. However, the assignment was not just a mild eye opener. It was proof that mathematics brings functions to careers. Thanks to Mr. Hockman, I have practiced in perfecting in math because I know now that someone’s life might depend on it one day.

Bertha Sagreiros