 Have you ever been at a party and people just kind of talking about business and what they do and or classes they're taking and it seems like it typically comes up, oh, I don't do math. I'm not good at math. I've never been good at math. That's perfectly okay in American culture. We're very accepting, even encouraging of people who don't do math. Well, you wouldn't ever hear of somebody at a party bragging because, oh, I don't read. I don't think very much. I can't even put together one whole cohesive sentence. We don't brag about those kinds of things, but for some reason in our culture, it's acceptable to claim not to do math. Well, I hope that as you move through this course that you will aim to change that perception for yourself and for your friends and for your community. Mathematics in our world is very important. It's really important for us to be able to think about quantity that we're engaged with every single day. The word mathematics actually has a Greek origin which means that which is to be learned. So mathematics really is about learning. It's not necessarily about complicated computation. That's a good skill to have for some. I absolutely believe that in this culture in our country, it's important that everybody have access and ability to become someone in a STEM field if they want to. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, those are important fields. But what about the rest of us who don't want to have a career of something that's mathematical? It's very important for us to be able to think mathematically just as well. We need to have access to that ability, and that's what this class is about. Do you ever consider when you read something from the media or a statistical report or even something from Facebook, how do you take in that information? How do you take in that data? To what degree does your belief system impact what you're reading? Or how is your belief system formed by what you read? Do you just react to the numbers? Or do you consider who wrote this report? Who would benefit from this report? Are they trying to convince me of something? What actions should I take if I believe this information? These are really important things to think about as you're taking in data that you are reading about or interacting with every single day, quantity in your very life. For instance, take unemployment. Unemployment rates. It's a hot topic recently. Well, how do they define unemployment? Who's counting the people who are unemployed? What about people who have part-time jobs but they want full-time jobs? Are they counted as employed? What about people who have completely given up or their employment check has run out so they're off the radar? Are we counting them anymore? How is it defined that people are unemployed and how is it counted? How would you possibly count that many people? Who benefits from the report? Who benefits from maybe thinking, hey, unemployment rates are on the rise? It sounds like bad news, but there might be maybe someone out there with a political agenda who wants to prove that the current program is not working. So they might present the data in a way that would be more convincing that the unemployment rates are on the rise. That's why it's important to be able to look at reports and quantity in your very daily life with the lens that enables you to look at the number. Not just your feelings or beliefs about the report that's given to you. Another example, I had a student who was working on collecting data about Pro Football League. In recent times they were considering extending the season for a couple of weeks. So my student gathered information that showed as the season was prolonged or went on the more head injuries were sustained by Pro Football players. Well how did they count that? How did they define head injury? How did they count them? Maybe people had head injuries and didn't even report it. Who would benefit? Who would benefit from extending the season two weeks? Who would benefit if they don't? What does some kind of political stake in this idea? So everywhere you turn there are multiple examples. Economy, the global warming, social issues, welfare, health benefits, the rising costs of health costs. All of these reports we're bombarded with daily but what do the numbers mean? That's what this class is about. And I hope that you will view this starting today as an opportunity to really embrace mathematics in your world. This class, don't think of it as oh this is my last math class. Thank goodness no more math for me. I'm done with math. Think of this class as an opportunity if you don't already do it to pause and think deeply every time you encounter some sort of quantity. You can be a trendsetter for yourself, for your friends, for your community, and stop hiding behind a cultural screen that makes it okay for us as an American culture to not interact with mathematics anymore. It's important for us as individuals, as a nation, and to have a positive global impact that we all take this responsibility. And I think it will be an exciting journey looking forward to it.