Page 170 - A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

FROM SLOW LEARNER TO SUPERSTAR: NICK APPLEYARD’S STORY

Nick Appleyard leads the Americas business unit as a vice
president in a high-tech company that develops and supports
advanced physics simulation tools used in aerospace, automotive,
energy, biomedical, and many other sectors of the economy. He
received his degree in mechanical engineering degree from the
University of Sheffield in England.

“Growing up, I was branded a slow learner and a problem child
because of it. These labels impacted me deeply. I felt like my
teachers treated me as if they’d given up any hope that I could
succeed. To make matters worse, my parents also became
frustrated with me and my educational progress. I felt the
disappointment most severely from my father, a senior physician at
a major teaching hospital. (I learned later in life that he had had similar difficulties early in his
childhood.) It was a vicious circle that impacted my confidence in every aspect of life.
“What was the problem? Math and everything associated with it—fractions, times tables, long
division, algebra, you name it. It was all boring and completely pointless.
“One day, something began to change, although I didn’t realize it at the time. My father brought
home a computer. I had heard about kids in their teens writing home computer games that
everyone wanted to play, and becoming millionaires overnight. I wanted to be one of those kids.
“I read, practiced, and wrote harder and harder programs, all of which involved some kind of
math. Eventually, a popular UK computer magazine accepted one of my programs for publication
—a real thrill for me.
“Now I see every day how mathematics is applied for designing the next generation of
automobiles, for helping to put rockets into space, and for analyzing how the human body works.
“Mathematics is no longer pointless. It is instead a source of wonder—and of a great career!”