Weekly Blog Entry #1 - January 13th-18th, 2014

Getting to know Scott C. Hammersley

1. My name is Scott C. Hammersley

2. I do not have any known nicknames that I choose to go by, but feel free to invent one if you wish!

3. My height in inches is 72 inches.

4. I am 19 years old.

5. On a general week day I wake up between 7 am and 8 am, but on the weekends it is more likely to be around 9:00-10:00 am.

6. My favorite candy is Reese's Fastbreak.

7. My favorite food to snack on is probably yogurt, I like to experience the multitude of flavors of yogurt out there.

8. My favorite bands consist of the Beatles, Foo Fighters, Foster the People, and Marianas Trench.

9. My favorite thing to do for fun is play street hockey, but sports in general and working out is always a good time. I also like to play video games, read, and overall relax.

10. My mathematical background consists of Elementary Mathematical Models and Statistics here at American University, but I've taken Algebra and what not throughout high school.

11. Overall I am not the best at math, but I think I will struggle the most with the concepts at the beginning of the semester as I really get back into the math grind of things. Though statistics, which I took last semester, is a math class I see pre-calculus as a very different kind of math.

Concept comfort level:

Equations (C)

Factoring (C)

Adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing fractions/rational expressions (V)

Simplifying expressions (V)

Operations on roots and fractional exponent expressions (U)

Operations involving whole number exponent expressions (C)

Finding common denominators (V)

Inequalities (V)

Functions (V)

Absolute value (C)

Linear functions (C)

Systems of equations (U)

Domain and range (C)

Inverse functions (C)

Transformations (shifting, scaling, stretching, etc) (U)

Quadratic functions (C)

Completing the square (U)

Exponential functions (C)

Logarithmic functions (C)

Base e (C)

Graphing (C)

Trigonometric concepts (U) 

12. I think I'll be able to excel and have a really good grip on things like exponential functions, equations, factoring, and graphing by the end of the semester. I feel the most confident that these will be my strong points because I think that my refreshed view of math since high school has helped me to build up my skills in these areas. I could, however, be wrong as this is a very early estimate. 

13. I only really use texting and facebook, but I do know of the other media sites I just don't have an account on them. 

14. I use texting and facebook the most frequently. 

15. My major is Political Science and Economics. 

16. I'm taking this class because it is required for me to do so to move on to Calculus for the Economics part of my double major. 

17. I will be taking future math classes and I intend to take Applied Calculus in the future, though I may be abroad at the London School of Economics and enroll in a similar course there. 

18. I hope to learn how to graph really well, and gain an overall knowledge for graphs and pre-calculus as a whole. 

19. Nothing much else you need to know about me right now, I suspect that you will find out the rest during the semester!