I blame He-Man

In 3rd grade almost everything I drew was either He-Man or ninja-related. In fact, for nearly the entire school year I managed to duck out of math class and sit at my desk, drawing big guys with balloon fists or merchants of silent death.

See, we were assigned a math group based on how well we tested in the subject (I was in the "yellow group", which was average), but this created confusion and I could easily just stay at my desk when the other yellows gathered together at the big desk and went over homework. Nobody seemed to catch on.

How I passed math that year--or was even graded at all--I have no idea. But I happily cranked out He-Man drawings while setting myself up for an ongoing, fundamental lack of confidence when it came to the subject of mathematics...