Wise Beyond his Years

***This "flashback post" was originally posted at AugustaEagles.blogspot.com (my "old" blog).  It is still there but I no longer post there.  I moved it to this blog because Matt is someone I am tracking, and pulling for.***

After posting this, good friend and current United States Merchant Marines student-athlete (in the truest sense of the word), Matt Miller sent me this message on Facebook:

I just read through all the post this month on Augustabasketball.com. I thought the math problem question you posed was interesting. Here is my quick input:
The problem is not connected to any real world problem so I can see people saying “why do I need to know this?” And maybe they don’t need to know how to distribute, take absolute values, and solve for variables. But solving such simple problems allows you to practice those simple skills which are necessary for solving complex real word problems. In basketball, we practice the figure 8 dribble, or two ball dribble. Throughout the course of a game, we will never be dribbling two balls or standing in one place going around our legs in a figure 8 motion, but we will use the skills acquired by practicing such drills.Now, some will still say “I don’t need this because I never want to go into a high level of math.” To those I say math teaches critical thinking and problem solving. It is a brain exercise. Further, for those who struggle with math, it teaches you the process of sitting, working hard, and struggling through something even if you don’t like it or see the value it. Steve Jobs said something like this, “it is hard to connect the dots looking forward, but easy to see looking back.” I have found this to be true. Most of the things I have done throughout my short life have taught me something. Many of them seemed extremely stupid in the moment, but I realize the value of them now. It just takes the correct attitude.

Brilliant, Matt!