7.2

I have always had high self-efficacy in math.  I have always felt like I was good at math and it seemed that I could learn new concepts easily.  When I compared my skills to my peers, I felt like I was better at math; therefore, improving my self-efficacy as it was mentioned in the chapter about how students compare themselves to others.  I also always got good grades in math.  However, I remember the phenomenon that the author discussed about how lower grades for high achieving students can damage self-efficacy.  Since I believed that I was good at math and was accustomed to getting high grades in math, so when I received a lower grade, my confidence was bruised.  The greatest test to my self-efficacy in math was during my senior year of high school when I decided to take Calculus.  It was the first time I felt like I was not as good as my peers and that I was falling behind.  My confidence was shattered and I ended up dropping the class half way through the year.  Luckily, some success in undergraduate and graduate statistics classes helped to recover some of the self-efficacy I had in the area of math.