WEBVTT - Becoming A Rocket Scientist w/ Olympia LePoint 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:03.600 I'm Will Lucas and this is black Tech, Green Money. 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:08.360 Olympia the Point is an award winning rocket scientists and author. 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:12.119 By her fans, Olympia is called the new Einstein, and 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:14.560 she was named the modern day Hidden Figure by People 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:18.640 magazine and Newsweek. She spent almost a decade at Boeing 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.600 as a propulsion scientist f NASA programs, specializing in, among 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:27.760 other things, calculating the probability of catastrophic exposing events. We 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:31.520 often hear the phrase, either jokingly or sarcastically, it's not 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:35.400 rocket science. So I asked Olympia to dispel any myths 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.000 or confirm any facts about how hard it is to 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:39.480 become a rocket scientist. 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:44.120 Oh my, that's a great question that you ask. Being 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:47.240 a rocket scientist is actually not as hard as it seems, 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:49.239 because a lot of people don't know that. When you're 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:53.640 a rocket scientist, you have an expertise in a certain area. 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:58.640 My expertise is mathematics and probability and understanding how the 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:02.720 numbers can predict a few So when you're in rocket science, 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.199 especially when we helped build and launch NASA Space Shuttle 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:12.120 main engines and Shuttle launches, we each had our own specialty. 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.920 Mine was mathematics and science, and I calculated the probability 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.400 of catastrophic explosions within space flight. But they were also 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:23.440 chemists that could understand exactly how the oxidizers and the 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.440 fluids would run together and would burn appropriately. There were 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:32.560 structural integrity engineers that would look at how hard and 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.840 strong the metal was to ensure that it would rupture 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:41.040 us with the launch or when there was explosion to 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.920 cause a lift off. And there were people who would 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.560 sit by in mission control, including myself, that look at 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.120 different aspects like the turbopumps. There are people who would 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:55.400 understand how rotating machinery would work so people would have 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.960 a safe flight. So there's different experts in all these 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.440 different areas. In mind was mathematic and. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.320 So if you compare that to like an orchestra, like 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.200 you have a bassoon player who is an expert at 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.200 the bassoon, and the person on you know, the flu 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:14.920 is an expert at the flu But somebody has to 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.919 sit above that and you know, knows all the instruments 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:20.360 and how they're supposed to fit into this, you know, 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:24.760 beautiful sound. Who is that person that sits above the 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.280 chemist and the mathematician and the probability person and all 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.480 of these different people. Who has to be the most 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.640 you know, proficient across or is it the same type 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:37.120 of you know thing as like you know, a conductor. 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:42.800 Great question. It is the program manager. The program manager 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:46.280 at each different location would oversee how all the different 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:49.160 parts and pieces would come together, and then you would 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:52.720 have the massive program manager. Now, most of the launches 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.040 that have been done here in the United States have 0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:01.520 been formed by Massive until recently we've seen commercial space flights. 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:06.560 We've seen on the news SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.640 that would go into certain levels of the outer space. 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:13.720 But it was NASA overseeing most of all of the 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:17.360 deep space travel, and so still to this day, NASA 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:21.000 program managers are the ones to oversee that each one 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:23.919 of the companies as well as the employees with their 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.960 own specialty, would come together and actually launched the engine 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:30.040 and vehicle in a safe way. 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:35.040 I'm so glad you brought up that these private industry, 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:39.080 private companies is commercialization of space travel, because one of 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:40.720 the things I wanted to ask you about was how 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.120 you feel having been at NASA. How do you feel 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.880 and how do you read the landscape of private industry 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.640 coming in, because I think about how, you know what 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:53.400 competition does to people who have just historically had a monopoly, 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:56.360 and it forces you to innovate. And I remember Elon 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:59.680 Musk saying, you know, he wanted to challenge the idea 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.480 that a rocket could only be used one time, and 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.680 so he developed ones that could be used over and 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.680 over again. And so as somebody who's worked in this 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.640 field for twenty plus years, and talk to me about 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.240 how you read the landscape of the importance of government 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:18.400 being involved and the importance of the private sector being involved. 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:24.159 There is an equal opportunity for both. And this is 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:28.200 why I say that governing structures are the ones to 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:33.520 ensure there is safe innovation. For example, let's look at 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.000 something that's basic that's not rocket science. If you look 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:39.159 at how a dam is built in how it holds water, 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:41.680 there's going to be safety regulations to make sure that 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:43.600 dam is going to be safe so it doesn't break 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:47.719 and doesn't take out homes and the water doesn't hurt 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:52.719 people downhill. It's the same process within aerospace. You have 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.400 these great companies that are creating these products, and you 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:59.440 also have to have some sort of regulatory procedure to 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.200 make sure or that the product is safe, whether it 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.920 be space travel, whether it be food, whether it be 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.480 food and the Drug Administration, whether it be all these 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.360 different areas. You have to have some sort of basic 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.680 guideline procedures to make sure that each one of the 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:21.279 companies in any one of the areas operate to the 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:25.760 same standard. So the aerospace companies and the commercial flight 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.479 companies are coming out now. It's great because a lot 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.960 of the companies that are out, we've seen them contribute 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.120 to space travel before. There are major companies like Raytheon, 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:38.599 like Boeing, as well as the newer companies that are 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.919 coming out like SpaceX and Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:48.080 and Astra. These are all private sector companies that are 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.680 building innovation, and the United States governments looks at these 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:55.680 companies and say, hey, you're building great innovation. How can 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.440 we support this innovation and how can we include it 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.279 in our programs that we're using right now. So it's 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:04.680 this one on one opportunity with both government and private 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.760 sector to do things. And sometimes the private sector has 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:12.760 an ability to create things at a lower cost value. 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:18.960 Let's say that they create a way to build nozzles 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:23.160 on engines. Instead of going through a three year process 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.240 of forging and casting all the metals, there may be 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:29.240 a printing process that's easier to do. That would be 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.960 a three D printing process that may take half the 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:37.320 amount of time. So there's different innovations that's created through 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:41.960 private sector companies and commercial company that is extremely valuable. 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:46.039 And so we want to understand the innovation that comes 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.880 from both government as well as private sector. So innovation 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:55.760 can be not only affordable, but it can also be safe. 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.200 Talk to me about what a day looks like in 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.760 what in your domain of rocket science? So what kind 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:04.240 of projects do you work on and what does a 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:07.919 typical day look like when you clock in? You know, 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.240 per se, Well, it depends. 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:15.960 Now I have I've been a rocket scientist, I've been 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:18.560 a professor, I've been an author, and I've been a 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.400 public speaker. So each day is different based on what 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:26.480 I'm doing. I have to laugh because when I was 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:30.200 in science, and when I was doing science for nearly 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:34.040 a decade, I was sitting at a computer, crunching numbers, 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.400 looking at a screen, and crunching numbers looking at a screen, 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.080 and crunching numbers, and I was sitting down. I was 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:42.720 sitting down crunching numbers. And the time in which I 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:44.440 would get at is when I go to a meeting 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:46.920 and talk to other people who are experts and we 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.880 devise a way to be able to construct or inspect 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.680 a certain part of the engine. And that was exciting 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.880 interacting with people. But when I was at my desk 0:07:55.960 --> 0:08:00.160 crunning numbers, it wasn't the most exciting. Exception to when 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.240 I could look at the math and figure out the patterns. 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.360 For me, that was exciting. Everybody's different, but I am 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:08.360 more of a person who is active. I like moving around. 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:14.000 I like doing things that is not only scientific but 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:19.160 is engaging. So after spending ten years in rocket science, 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.880 so what I did is I laughed and I went 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.680 to become a math professor. So I was a math 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.239 professor for fourteen years. And so I was walking around, 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:32.040 moving around all the time, having to write all the time. 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:35.680 There was not one moment in which I wasn't like 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:37.640 still unless they were taking a test when I was 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.480 sitting down proctering. But I had the ability to walk 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.480 and move and I could show the students the next 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:48.800 generation of the scientists, the technology specialists, the engineers, and 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:53.160 the mathematicians, how they could take this information and use 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.640 it for the innovation that was going to be used 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:59.920 at these large, major companies. So that day was more 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.600 writing and moving around. Now, as a public speaker, I 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:08.000 interface with people, and it was interesting before the pandemic 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.840 and after pandemic. After the pandemic was two different types 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:14.080 of situations. Before the pandemic, I would go and meet 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.559 with everyone and it would be great. Now after the pandemic, 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:21.080 you have to make sure that people are safe and 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:25.160 people have the right safety measures, especially when we're in 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.720 When we were in the pandemic itself, it was really 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.800 a pivot point because I had to learn the technology 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:35.120 to give virtual lectures so people could understand what was 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.440 going on online and make it exciting for that. And 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:44.360 now that people are getting healthier after the traumatic situation 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:48.880 the entire world saw under the pandemic, we are seeing 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.760 an ability to really educate in more profound ways now, 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.760 not only in person but in online, and so that's exciting. 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.360 And as an author, I get a share to do 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:04.480 fun things like this being on your show and talk 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:09.160 and share information because being an author is just the 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.400 first step of the process of writing a book, because 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:15.760 when you write a book, the first step is writing it, 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.640 but you have to like market it, and the way 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.760 you market it is giving away as much information and 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:23.960 content as you can so people can grow from the 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.360 information and what you've written. So that's the exciting part 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:29.840 when I get a chance to connect with your audience 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:34.360 and answer questions and do all this fun stuff. So 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:35.240 thank you so much. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:37.880 Yeah, I want to talk about education in a second, 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.560 but before I do, you know, we often have a 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.800 conversation and tech about you know, there's opportunities for technical 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:48.720 people obviously, engineers, coders, programmers and non technical people, and 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:52.199 so I wonder before we talk about education, you know, 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.480 are their roles for people who may not be technical 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:59.359 people in the field of you know, rocketry. 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:06.920 There are different types of people. There's different type of thinkers, 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:12.680 just like there's diversity with educational backgrounds, and just like 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:16.439 there's diversity within how much income someone has. They can 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.720 have very little or they can be billionaires. So you 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.880 can have diversity in people's heritage. Someone can be Asian, 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:27.680 someone can be African American, someone can be African, which 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:32.199 is different things. Someone can be European or Caucasian or American. 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:37.160 There's different types of ways in which people see the 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:41.199 world and based on their background, but there's also diversity 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:47.000 in thinking. People think differently. People can be of the 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:52.440 same nationality but think differently. And it's really important for 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:57.520 people to respect the differences in how we think because 0:11:57.559 --> 0:11:59.959 as we can respect the differences on how we think, 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:04.920 think together as human beings would create solutions and answers. 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:10.400 So in this process of not everyone being a technical 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:14.160 minded person, that is one hundred percent great because not 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.800 everybody can do numbers. Not everybody can sit down and 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:22.240 feel comfortable dealing with a calculator. Not everybody is feeling 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:24.679 comfortable looking at engineering the prints. That's just not how 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:28.200 their mind works. But they may be a great communicator. 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.240 They can read the room and see someone's mannerisms and 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.760 be able to say that person needs help. Some people 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.520 are great at being able to sell. Like for me, 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:42.800 I'm not the best seller at all. If I ask 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:45.120 someone to buy something, I'm like, you can buy it, 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:47.440 you cannot buy it. You can do whatever you want. 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.600 But that's that's not for instance, it's a great seller. 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.880 A great sellers well, is somebody who can read a 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.280 person and know exactly what they need and point to 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.320 in the product, what exactly works in the product that 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.720 that's going to help them. So that's not my gifts, 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:08.239 that's someone else's. But we each have this ability to 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:13.720 provide a contribution to an overall outcome. And this overall 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.880 outcome I feel as a scientist, is being able to 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:20.960 create an innovative approach for our world, and that is 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:24.960 going to give people answers with science, whether it be 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:30.480 finding solutions to the climate change, whether it be understanding 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:34.839 how to keep people's information and faces safe and artificial 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:41.840 intelligence technology, whether it be trying to understand how quantum 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:47.920 communications in the future can help keep data secure at 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:54.040 hospitals and at state departments and governmental agencies, and the 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:59.280 electrical companies and grids across the world. So we have 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:04.000 the with each of our diverse ways of thinking to 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.600 contribute to a solution that's going to help humanity. So 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:09.679 you don't have to be just a technical thinker, but 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:11.880 you can provide your skills in the way that's going 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:13.880 to help people. And that's the most important part. 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.280 I love that education. This I know this is close 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:22.400 near and dear to your heart. And I wonder. You know, 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:24.600 I was on social media and every once in a 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:26.760 while you'll see like a math problem and it'll be 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.600 like it'll seem obvious, and then there's like a million 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.600 different answers for the same math problem in the comments, 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:35.880 like everybody believes they know the right answer, but everybody's 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:39.000 got a different answer. And then there's you know, then 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:42.560 there's math problems I've seen on social media that you know, 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:44.560 explain how to do it, and then it'll show how 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.120 other nations teach how to do that same thing. And 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.240 we wonder why we seem so backwards in so many ways. 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.520 And at the same time, we are near the bottom 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.960 in the United States of thirty five industrialized countries nations 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:04.040 in math proficiency. What are we getting wrong about how 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:04.720 we teach math? 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:10.600 Oh? Boy, whoa, that's a good question. I mean, that's 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:18.080 a hot question. I love that question. That's a good question. Boy, 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:20.840 I can do. You know what, I wish we had 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.160 educational officials all from all across the world and across 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.400 this nation listening to this particular podcasty, I can break 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:28.720 it down. 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.600 Let's break it down. Let's bring it down. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.000 People don't address the fear behind mathematics. They address the 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:42.920 answer when people fear certain situations. It doesn't matter if 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:46.720 it's mathematics. And I talk about this in my first book, Mathaphobia, 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:48.720 How you can overcome your math fears and become a 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:53.240 rocket scientist. It doesn't matter if you're fearing mathematics or 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:56.640 you're experiencing fear because you're in a home where your 0:15:56.640 --> 0:16:00.280 parents are getting divorced and you're a kid. Same fear, 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:05.120 it's shutting down the frontal brain loads. Here's the problem 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:08.400 with fear. When it shuts down the frontal brain loads, 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:14.840 it stops someone from solving problems in mathematics, mathematics, and 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:21.480 science stems specifically science technology injuring mathematics requires our frontal 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:27.040 brain loads to transport a problem into a solution. If 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:31.160 our frontal brain lobes are not working due to fear, 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.000 because fear turns off this part of the brain, and 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:36.960 fear is part of the reptilian part, and it shuts 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.080 down our creative problem solving, which is a part of 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:42.280 our frontal brain loads. And that's also when we get older, 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:46.960 is considered the executive decision making portion of our brain. 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:53.960 So when we experience fear, our brain shuts down. And 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:57.440 when our brain shuts down, it can't do a math problem. 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:02.680 So when you're looking we had a child starting to 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:06.920 fail their math, it's because they're experiencing fear in their life. 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:12.520 And if you don't give the child tools to be 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:16.280 able to communicate themselves so they can address the fear 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.200 and remove it from their brain at an early age, 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:24.800 they become stumped in mathematics. They become stumped in mathematics. 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:29.840 When they become stumped in mathematics, it affects the rest 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.639 of their education. The quickest way to know if someone 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:37.240 is a child is having really bad problems somewhere in 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:41.800 their life is look at their mascors. Their mascores are 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.720 the first indication that a child needs help because they're 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:50.159 having trouble mentally processing a solution and finding an answer 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:54.000 to a situation. Math is the first place where you 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:58.320 see that. So in our country, we do not have 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:04.040 the best mental health access and priority, and it's across 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:07.080 the board. It doesn't doesn't matter if you're white, it 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:09.320 doesn't matter if you're black, it doesn't matter if you're Asian. 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:14.919 This country needs to increase its knowledge and understanding and 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:21.160 respect of mental health when we can increase the ability 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:26.880 for young people to identify their feelings, how they're experiencing things, 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:30.679 and to identify when they're are falling into one of 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:33.560 these characters where they get stuck. And I write about 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:36.080 this in my first book. When people get stuck, they 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.479 turn into Quincy the quitter. They'll quit even before they 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:42.280 even try. Donnaga overdoer. They'll try and try and still 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:45.679 miss the mark. Samuel the struggler. He thinks that his 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:49.200 approach no one respects, and people think he's done. And 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.639 then Crystal the criticize will blame everybody for her pro 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.280 performance because she doesn't know how to take ownership of things. 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.760 They students learn that at an early age, and if 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.280 we don't find a way to correct that type of 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:08.280 mental thinking at a very early age, it extends into adulthood, 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.560 where that adulthood makes someone think not only oh, I'm 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.040 not good at mathematics, they'll also think I am not 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:21.520 worth trying to succeed in a certain area. So I 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.639 become a business owner, So I become a scientist, So 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.200 I become a podcast host, so I become an entertainer. 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.320 It's a full spectrum of different careers. That people can 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:37.320 go on to. So when we address the psychological issues 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:42.960 that people are facing, we then clear out the mind 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:45.480 to turn off the fear, and then we turn back 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:48.400 on the frontal brain loads that are responsible for effective 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:51.320 decision making. And it doesn't matter if it's effective decision 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:54.159 making where's a child or if it is an executive. 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.040 When we turn off the fear, we turn on solutions 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:01.440 in our brain, and that is how we provide answers 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:02.120 to society. 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:06.919 That's great, that's great. And so I was thinking about this, 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:09.040 and you know, going through my math journey, and I 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:11.320 learned that math is a lot like you know, putting 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:15.000 wheels on a car, like if you or even stacking 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:18.240 blocks like if you miss a principle in the early 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:22.679 fundamentals of math, it's very hard to get math at 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:25.880 higher levels because the principle, the foundation is not there. 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:28.560 So if you don't get math, it's hard to get subtraction. 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:30.959 If you don't get subtraction, it's hard to get multiplication 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:34.840 if like and these things keep building on themselves. And 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:37.560 so when you think about, you know, to your point 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:41.840 of helping people mentally in their socialized you know, removing 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:46.919 trauma and et cetera. And life hasn't stopped though, you know. 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.240 So now I'm progressing through grades, and I missed some 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.480 fundamentals back two three years ago, pick a number ago, 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:55.360 and how do how do or I'm an adult now 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:57.640 and I didn't really get it, you know in those 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:01.520 school age years. How do you fix the car while 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:03.400 you're driving? And you only got three wheels? 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:08.840 By this one concept that I want everyone to remember, 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:13.840 it's never too late to learn. It's never too late 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:16.560 to learn. And I know that from my own personal experience. 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:19.840 And I'm going to tell you why I failed algebra. 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:26.320 I failed geometry. I felt calculous and I felt chemistry 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:30.199 in school. And I laugh about it now because I 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.880 eventually had to take the classes over, struggled and take 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:36.639 the classes over again. Then I finally got it. And 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:40.479 then I got it because I sat down with someone 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:44.560 who was willing to help me understand it. And it 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:46.600 was I think I was sixteen years old when I 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:48.360 finally started understanding algebra. 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:51.280 Well me before you continue, because I want to stop 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:54.240 you because you just said something very salient. Is most 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:59.320 math issues with children about the teacher, their ability to teach. 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:01.800 Reasons I write about this in my book, and these 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:06.560 are phenomenal questions. It's due to three reasons. The parent 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.240 him or herself that has their own fear that they 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:16.320 give off to their child through a math teacher who 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:19.600 may not be supportive or may say some things that 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:24.240 would negatively affect a student. Or it's by the system 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:28.000 itself that doesn't give the proper structure or the foundation 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:32.200 for someone to go far in science, technology, engineering, mathematics. 0:22:33.680 --> 0:22:36.639 So those are the three root sources of why students 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:40.120 do poorly in mathematics. And for me, my mother had 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:46.760 a math fear. She was scared of mathematics, and she unknowingly, 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:49.879 God bless her soul, because she really tried. She really 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:52.000 truly tried to help me as a single mom. She 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:54.720 was scared, she was really scared of mathematics. And I 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:58.680 remember seeing her take a math class when I went 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:02.240 back to which when I was like fifteen or sixteen, 0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:03.920 I started to taking a man class and it was 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:09.560 with doctor Lee, and so she took me to class 0:23:09.600 --> 0:23:13.320 with her. And when she took me to class with her, 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:17.840 the teacher himself helped me with calculus. And that's why 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:22.080 that's how I understood algebra because I started actually doing 0:23:22.119 --> 0:23:25.679 trigon alentry and calculus and asking him questions because my 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:28.359 mother was taking me to class, her beginning algebra class 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:32.919 when she was at the community college, and that process 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:37.040 made me start thinking, maybe there's stuff I need to learn. 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:40.280 And then I sat down with a teacher that actually 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:42.919 spent time tutoring me, and that's when I realized I 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:46.000 had the foundation. Now all those classes that I failed, 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:50.600 there's one class that I didn't take over. You're gonna 0:23:50.600 --> 0:23:54.560 get a kick off this. There's one class I failed 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:59.240 I didn't take over. It was algebra fundamental with algebra. 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:03.360 But I'm a spiritual person, and I truly believe God 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:06.800 was helping me because the class that I started teaching, 0:24:07.119 --> 0:24:11.120 the first class I started teaching on an ongoing basis 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:15.760 after I left Rocket Science, was an algebra class to adults. 0:24:15.880 --> 0:24:17.240 Wow. 0:24:18.280 --> 0:24:22.000 So for ten years I looked at the information that 0:24:22.080 --> 0:24:24.920 I failed when I was younger, and when I would 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:27.920 look at the book, I would see it and I'm like, oh, 0:24:28.040 --> 0:24:31.080 I know exactly what I did wrong when I was 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:34.119 sixteen and seventeen that I didn't get right. And it 0:24:34.200 --> 0:24:37.600 was like I could know what was going on in 0:24:37.640 --> 0:24:41.960 the student's brains. Because I was there. I know how 0:24:42.000 --> 0:24:45.679 they were thinking because I did that too. So that 0:24:45.920 --> 0:24:51.080 was the pleasure I had, was helping adults learn basic algebra, 0:24:51.680 --> 0:24:54.040