Congrats, Frank (and others…)!
Way to show that it’s never too late. I have a 42 year old friend who I helped with her algebra class about two years ago. It’s hard to go back to school, but so rewarding when you do well.
-D/a
Good teachers are the key in my opinion… Keep an open mind, don’t think for a minute that you can’t do this. The only way I was able to get out of High School was to take remedial math, and I got a “C” in that. I had to take math 060, algebra 090, algebra 099 and just finished algebra 121. Sure, some of it was remedial, but it’s do-able. If I can do it… anyone can…
Congratulations!
Though honestly, I’m not surprised. You’re smart and algebra is easy, seems like a match made in heaven.
Mostly the inconsistency of the form in which it expected answers. Sometimes it wanted the answer simplified, sometimes not, and I could never get it right the first time. Secondarily, as mentioned, the graphing (Where the hell is 121 on this thing?), and thirdly that it did not train me to put braces around my solution sets. That last cost me points on a couple of exams.
Business math, whatever that is.
I did not find it to be easy; it was serious work. There was a point in the semester where all I had to do was log into Pearson and I would burst into tears. I took it online, which I think was a mistake. The business math I’m taking as a live class.
First of all: congratulations! You are deservedly proud.
Second (I couldn’t resist)
Could you be surprised in any other way?
“I am pleased, and don’t call me Frank.”
“These hot-dogs are great,” Tom said frankly.
You know the Little Mermaid is good at math. She wears an algae bra.
(I’ll stop now)
Good on you!
When I was in college at 30 my advisor started to explain that I might be able to get the math requirement waived because “they’ve done studies that show that after a certain age a person simply cannot learn math.” It sounded like BS to me. I’m glad no one discouraged you with similar nonsense. I passed algebra - though I did not get an A. You rock!
Oh yeah, you just brought back some memories. 
It definitely helped that my professor had been tailoring his online class for almost a decade so his own portion of it really balanced out the Pearson portion. I do remember typing up a long tutorial for my classmates because of all the complaints about not being able to figure out the damn braces.
I’m impressed. I never got an A in algebra.
I’m glad nobody told that to me, here’s my story:
I’m 31. I decided to return to school a year ago this past spring because I was sick of my chosen profession (hospice worker). I planned on going into business school, but knew my math sucked shit big time. I was homeschooled through highschool and never took algebra further than simple “10 - x = 7, solve for x” stuff. I took some college classes in the late 90s, and my placement test placed me in intermediate algebra - the dreaded Math 65. Being a moron and not understanding ky limitations, I enrolled - and failed. Rinse and repeat four fucking times until I gave up on math. 14 years later, In prep for restarting my college career, I started at the absolute lowest math class the college had - remedial arithmetic. Literally gradeschool stuff: basic multiplication, addition and subtraction, long division. We ended the course with basic fractions and decimals.
Four math courses later, I have successfully conquered my nemesis Math 65, and have decided not to major in business but… (drumroll)… mathematics. I have passed all my math classes with straight A’s and in four terms have gone from academic probation to the President’s Honor Roll. I absolutely love math. I cannot explain why. Mathematics has an inherent beauty that is beyond description, and practicing math is a cross between studying a new language and dabbling in witchcraft… It is black magic mixed with art and music. I’m lucky that the closest university is also a top-ranked math school by the AMS.
So, Frank, kudos to you. I hated math, now not only love it but have decided to make the study and practice of advance mathematics my career. Anyone who says someone can’t learn math as an adult is full of shit. You - and everyone else with similar accomplishments - have much to be proud of.
Oh, and Pearson’s… we were required by the school to buy the stupid key for the classes, even though all my math instructors to date have directed nothing but scorn and ridicule towards mymathlab. They much prefer Kahn Academy, which I confess I never utilized so know nothing about.
Again, many many congratulations.
What wonderful news and thanks to everyone sharing their stories in this thread. Algebra is the only kind of math I really like. (Well, that and statistics.)
Excellent work!
Congratulations, Frank!
So much in mastering math comes down to hard work and a refusal to give up. I’ve tutored kids in math, and had to explain to them that math rarely just ‘makes sense’ the first time or the tenth time you look at it, that they had to do it ten times in a row, and when they got up in the morning, then it would make sense.
Congratulations, Frank!
Just wait until they spring calculus and imaginary numbers on you! 
Nice job! Are you going for a GED, or just learning math for fun?
That never worked for me: either I got a good explanation, and then it made sense within minutes, or I got zero explanation, in which case it didn’t make sense. So in the end it comes down to good teachers or, in the case of Set Theory, a post in GQ… some 30 years after I had Set Theory in class!
Good going!
I think you will like business math. Algebra is very abstract, but business math should have more real world problems.
I’m impressed too Frank. To me, math was just a necessary evil. Existing only to keep me humble.
And then you asked ‘what age is that?’, and your advisor said ‘oh never mind that, you wouldn’t understand’, right?
Credit: Pearls Before Swine