About 6 months before starting my upper division applied maths coursework, I picked up a copy of Baby Rudin, slogged through chapter 1-2, decided it was an inef

About 6 months before starting my upper division applied maths coursework, I picked up a copy of Baby Rudin, slogged through chapter 1-2, decided it was an inefficient use of time, and contented myself to wait to learn from my future courses' lecturers. Now I'm about 6 months into my upper division coursework and the most important lesson I've learned is that the only way to learn the concepts is to slog through them on your own. The pace is usually so slow you feel like you're not actually learning anything. But every once-in-a-while a couple pieces fall into place, whatever puzzle you're looking at gets a little clearer, and you realize you're growing and making progress. Anyways, my point is that I bet you can do it, you should try, and it might feel hopeless at first. Don't be surprised or discouraged if it takes you something like an hour per page (or more) to work through a textbook. The good news is that's probably all you really need to do: work through it.