I can live without the alphabet. Sitting on the floor of my kitchen, toy letters scattered at my feet, being forced to learn the alphabet... my stubborn, five-year-old self was planning out how I could survive life having never learned my ABC's. Eventually, after a grueling, unceasing five minutes passed, the patterns began to appear and I had finally learned the alphabet. The thing about math is... I could always rely on it. Whether I struggled to learn the alphabet or couldn't differentiate the pronunciation of "s" with "th," math always had my back. So you can imagine my utter shock when I look down at my sixth-grade math worksheet to see LETTERS. Although it took me longer than five minutes this time, I eventually grasped the concept. With math, there is always a rhyme and reason. Although the concepts may grow vast or appear incomprehensible at first, there is always an explanation to be found. Although, math and I have certainly had our hiccups, I love it. I plan to pursue a mechanical engineering degree at a stem-based university. As math continues to grow and the concepts become more and more difficult to grasp, I refuse to back down from any challenge that may arise. No matter where this world takes me, I know one thing for certain, I cannot live without math.