Real world education story: I struggled with Calculus, having to take it 3 times before passing. I went to my professor and explained to him that I was simply u

Real world education story: I struggled with Calculus, having to take it 3 times before passing. I went to my professor and explained to him that I was simply unable to conceptualize what we did to solve calculus problems as not being arbitrary steps. I showed him a software program I wrote that translated my Latin homework into English, and remarked how the rules we use to solve calc problems feel like just another Latin translator. Then I showed him that I was finally getting the calc problems right by doing them with statistics first, and then knowing the statistical answer I'd play with the calc rules until I got the same answer as I got from statistics. He was quite surprised, and we discussed what I was doing at length. He asked me what I wanted as a career, and I told him that I already had a video game studio, products in the market, and simply wanted to get better, maybe pursue that new field of 3D computer graphics. (This was '83). My professor completely changed his course and nature of his homework, it was still Calculus 1 and 2, but he was using video game situations and simulations and illustrating the duel nature of solving with statistics or with calculus and when one is the choice over the other. That class, that single professor's insight to modify his course set me on a track that led to a career many dream about, some disbelieve when I relate it, my career has been stellar.