15

I'm a high school student. I love mathematics and I read a lot of maths books. I always like to discuss some mathematical problems with others.

But unfortunately, there aren't anyone in my school tending to truly love mathematics, they just care about the exams and they often ignore me when I'm talking mathematics with them.

This maybe because they can't understand what I'm talking about. So I often feel bloody lonely, it's painful. Could anyone help me? I wanna find a pen pal to communicate with each other.

Martin Sleziak
  • 56,060
Toney Leung
  • 759

1 Answers1

8

A few ideas:

Reach out to a local (or not) university or college. You can do this in a few ways. The first is to contact something like an admissions department or an outreach department. Depending on where in the world you live, the university/college may have one or both of these. Outreach is better, since their job is to connect people in the institution with people outside of it. This may be math students, but it may be a professor as well. Local is best since you can in theory go and speak with the person directly some times, but if there is nothing local near you then you can reach out across the globe. Where are you located?

Reach out to a math teacher at your school. If you know someone you really like, then that person would be a good starting point. They may have contacts at other schools who can look around for you, or they may serve directly as your mentor. If you're looking for a student and not an instructor, this is probably the best way.

Go to reddit. Stack exchange is a question/answer site, so discussions are often discouraged. Reddit, however, is an open discussion site where lively conversation can happen.

Michael Stachowsky
  • 3,133
  • 3
    Indeed, discussions are discouraged on the main site but wouldn't it be suitable to discuss on Chat StackExchange? – projectilemotion Aug 30 '19 at 12:58
  • I'm sure it would be, but reddit is a site designed for prolonged discussion on a topic where people often surf the main site, rather than the chat board. It's probably a better forum, but that doesn't mean it's the only option – Michael Stachowsky Aug 30 '19 at 13:01
  • The use of "maths" and "bloody lonely" says UK or India. – Tito Piezas III Aug 30 '19 at 13:01
  • @TitoPiezasIII What about Singapore, where I live? – Parcly Taxel Aug 30 '19 at 13:07
  • @ParclyTaxel: I was actually going to say "and other places influenced by the UK." But, with one billion people, statistically it might be India. :) – Tito Piezas III Aug 30 '19 at 13:11
  • In fact,I have found my math teachers,but they have no idea to help me.And also,they can't understand what I say.Maybe what I learn beyond their professional knowledge.Meanwhile,one of my math teachers looks down on me just because I make a simple mistake. – Toney Leung Aug 30 '19 at 13:14
  • 1
    @ToneyLiang: if your math teachers don't understand what you say, then it may be that you need to spend more time learning to effectively communicate your ideas. Part of the process of mathematical education lies in communication as much as it does being amazed by concepts. Perhaps use that as an opportunity to practice before you get a pen pal, so that you can maximize your discussion with someone new – Michael Stachowsky Aug 30 '19 at 13:17
  • 1
    In fact,I express my ideas clearly.But my teachers just haven't heard of the mathematical concepts that I say.So they have no idea what I'm talking about.Although they don't know what I say,one of my teachers encourages me to keep on reading maths books,she appreciates me. – Toney Leung Aug 30 '19 at 13:23
  • On Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/math/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/ – Anton Sherwood Aug 30 '19 at 23:41