I simply could not appreciate mathematics until university. Memorizing times tables and repetitive drilling is not the way it should be taught at the earliest

I simply could not appreciate mathematics until university. Memorizing times tables and repetitive drilling is not the way it should be taught at the earliest introduction. I don't know how it can be done properly, but the way it is done at the early phases bored the hell out of me. Later, much later, I learned to appreciate it's power and beauty.