I do recommend to read these articles: http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/articles/calculus-trap http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/articles/calculus-trap htt

I do recommend to read these articles: http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/articles/calculus-trap http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/articles/calculus-trap http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/articles/discrete-math http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/articles/discrete-math http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/articles/what-is-problem-solving http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/articles/what-is-problem-... Short recap: Mathematics is not bunch of dull rules. Education system puts way too much emphasis on memorization of dull rules instead of problem solving and developing strong intuition. Calculus overrepresented and discrete math underrepresented in education system. As a person who currently is rediscovering math from scratch, I find these articles very insightful. I rediscover math from problem solving/intuitive point of view rather than beating my head against the wall of formal definitions.