This is something I've wanted to write about for a while, as it was one of the MAJOR things which were holding me back from taking that first step into a trade. I hope that this will help someone else who is in a similar situation to me. 

Ever since I can remember, numbers have never been a strong suit of mine. One of my most dreaded subjects. To the point where I used to get in hysterics at school knowing maths was next. It didn't matter how hard I tried, how hard I studied, it was like the numbers just went in one ear and out the other. Numbers just NEVER (and I mean NEVER) stuck. 

We tried all the after school tutors, the extra maths classes even tried changing after school tutors to a different company to see if it was the tutor... no success. As my school years went on I was so focused on at least getting my University Enterance credits so that when school was finished, I had the option to get into University if that was the path I chose to take. 

Back in 2008 (my last year I attended maths at school) the University entrance was 14 Credits..... I got 15! Boom, that was me.
Maths done!

After year 10 at high school, maths was then an optional subject and I was all about it. Leaving school and knowing I was going into a career that didn't involve numbers was awesome, I didn't even have to think about them! It wasn't until I was thinking about taking on an apprenticeship that it really started to bother me again. I knew that majority of trades worked SO much around numbers, and this is not something i was ever comfortable with. 

It was a phone call with one of my older brothers who had been a builder for many years now, that managed to change my mind. It was one of the things holding me back, I didn't (still don't) know my time's tables and suck at basic adding and subtracting. I knew if I took on a trade, this would make me look stupid and really hold me back. But the one piece of advice that he gave me: "it's 2017, you have a phone, your phone has a calculator, USE IT!", and that's exactly what I did.
Knowing that using technology to move forward is acceptable within the trades is something that made me feel, I guess, accepted, in a way. I was sold. I COULD take on a trade, and my terrible math skills were not going to hold me back. 

Fast forward 2 years and I've found that I'm wanting to now go out of my way to learn more maths (weird, who even am i) from the girl who used to ball her eyes out over a bunch of numbers and a maths test, to someone who will happily sit there and fill in her Apprenticeship bookwork full of maths equations. And the reason behind the change? I can relate all these numbers to real life, the numbers have become physical objects. I can see in my head myself measuring an object to get a number and then working out the size of another object which I need to take away from the other one. I'm not just taking "Jills apples" and working out how many jack ate. 

It's crazy how having numbers in a real situation can really change your mindset and ability to do the work. 

Again I'm not the best at blog posts, but I hope that someone else in my situation can relate to this and realise that you don't need to let numbers hold you back, technology is there for a reason, use it.