In the process of studying, Helen Keller encountered difficulties that ordinary people could not imagine. How did a girl who lost her hearing and vision complete her studies in mathematics, astronomy, Greek, etc., and finally get into her favorite university?
Break through adversity
Author: Helen Keller
Excerpt from "If You Give Me Three Days of Light"
When I was a sophomore at Cambridge High School, I was filled with hope. However, in the first few weeks, many unexpected difficulties were encountered.
Mr. Gilman agreed to major in mathematics for the academic year, in addition to completing subjects such as astronomy, Greek and Latin. Unfortunately, the course had already begun, and many of the books I needed failed to get the letterpress version in time, and lacked the important learning tools necessary for some courses. Coupled with the large number of people in my class, the teacher could not give me special tutoring. Miss Sullivan had to read all the books for me and translate the teacher's explanations. Her dexterous hands were no longer up to the task she had undertaken, something she had not seen in 11 years.
Algebraic, geometric, and physics arithmetic was required to be done in class, but I couldn't do it. Until we bought a Braille typewriter, with which I could "write" every step of the solution. The geometry on the chalkboard, which my eyes could not see. The only way I could understand the concept of geometry was to make geometry on the cushion with straight and curved lead wire. As for the letter symbols in the diagram, as well as the steps of assumptions, conclusions and proofs, they are entirely memorized by the brain.
In short, learning is full of obstacles. Sometimes I was so disheartened that I exuded this emotion, and I am ashamed to think of it to this day. Especially when I recalled throwing a tantrum at Miss Sullivan for this, I was extremely ashamed. Because she is not only my good friend, but also the one who cut through the thorns for me.
Gradually, these difficulties disappeared, the lettering books and other learning tools arrived one after another, and I regained my confidence and devoted myself to learning.
Algebra and geometry are two courses I need to work on to learn. As mentioned earlier, I have no understanding of mathematics, and many of my ideas cannot be satisfactorily explained as I wish. I have a headache with geometry, and even though there are many figures on the cushions, I can't tell the relationship between the parts. It wasn't until Mr. Keith came to teach me math that there was a breakthrough.
Who knows, these difficulties have just been overcome, and then an unexpected thing has happened that has changed everything a lot.
Before my books arrived, Mr. Gilman had begun to point out to Miss Sullivan that my classes were too heavy and had reduced my class hours in spite of my serious protests.
At first, we agreed to spend 5 years preparing for university if necessary. But at the end of the first school year, my test results convinced Miss Sullivan, Ms. Harbaugh (the provost of the school), and another teacher that I would be ready for the exam in two more years. At first, Mr. Gilman agreed with this, but then he saw that my homework was not progressing well enough and insisted that I had to study for another 3 years. I didn't like the program because I wanted to get into college with other students.
I was a little unwell on November 17th and didn't go to class. Although Miss Sullivan explained to Mr. Gilman that it was only a small problem, Mr. Gilman, believing that my body was overwhelmed by my homework, changed my study plan so much that I could not take the final exam with my classmates. Due to a disagreement between Mr. Gilman and Miss Sullivan, my mother decided to drop me out of Cambridge with my sister, Mijorie.
After this period of trouble, my mother arranged for Mr. Keith from Cambridge High School to serve as my tutor to guide me to continue my studies. Between February and July 1898, Mr. Keith went to Rensame twice a week to teach algebra, geometry, Greek and Latin, with Miss Sullivan as a translator.
In October 1898, we returned to Boston. For the next 8 months, Mr. Keith taught me 1 hour each time 5 times a week. Each time I explained something I didn't understand in my last lesson, and then assigned a new assignment. He took back the Greek exercises I had made on the typewriter during the week to revise them carefully and then return them to me.
My preparation for the university entrance exam is always ongoing. I've found that listening to lectures alone is not only easier and more enjoyable than listening to lectures in class, and you don't need to follow behind or get carried around. The tutor has plenty of time to explain what I don't understand, so I learn faster and better than I can in school. In math, I still have more difficulties than in other courses. Algebra and geometry are half as easy as language and literature lessons! But even in mathematics, Mr. Keith taught with interest, and he reduced the problems and difficulties to a minimum so that I could fully understand them. He made me think quickly, reason rigorously, and calmly and logically search for answers, rather than blindly thinking about them. Even though I was so stupid that even Job couldn't tolerate it, he was always gentle and patient.
On June 29 and 30, 1899, I took the final entrance exam for DeCliffe College for Women.
The first day takes Elementary Greek and Advanced Latin, and the second day takes Geometry, Algebra, and Advanced Greek.
The College did not allow Miss Sullivan to read the exam papers for me, and invited Mr. Winnie, a teacher at the Perkins School for the Blind, to translate the exam papers into American Braille for me. Mr. Vinnie knew me, and we could not converse except in Braille.
Braille can be used for a variety of scripts, but it is difficult to use for geometry and algebra. I was exhausted, discouraged, and wasted a lot of precious time, especially on algebra. I'm really familiar with the 3 brailles that the average American can use: British, American, and New York, but the various symbols in geometry and algebra are very different in these 3 brailles, and I only use British Braille in algebra.
Two days before the exam, Mr. Venney sent me the old Algebra Exam Braille text of Harvard University, but in American Braille. I was in a hurry and immediately wrote to Mr. Vinnie asking him to explain the symbols above. Soon, I received another exam paper and a list of symbols. I set out to learn about these symbols. The night before the algebra exam, I was so busy working on complex exercises that I couldn't tell the difference between the combined use of parentheses, braces, and square roots. Mr. Keith and I were a little discouraged, worried about the next day's exam. During the exam, we arrived at the school early and asked Mr. Vinnie to carefully explain to us the symbols of American Braille.
The biggest difficulty in taking geometry is that I'm used to having people spell propositions in my hands. Somehow, although the proposition is correct, it looks messy in Braille. When it comes to taking algebra, the difficulty is even greater, and the symbols that have just been learned think they understand, and when it comes to the examination, they are confused. Also, I couldn't see the words I typed out with the typewriter. I used to use Braille to calculate, or to calculate with my heart. Mr. Keith was so focused on training me in mental arithmetic and not on how to write exam papers, so my answers were so slow that I had to read the exam questions over and over again to figure out how to do them. To be honest, I'm not sure I've read all the symbols myself. It's really too difficult to get everything right, but I don't blame anyone. Mr. Deacon of Decliffe College would not realize how difficult my exam questions were, nor would he understand the particular difficulties I had to overcome.
But if they inadvertently put up many obstacles for me, I can masturbate that I finally overcame them all.
Reader: Wang Zhanqi
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