Question: @graham in school as you enjoed maths was your aim always to involve it in your career?

Graham Cullen answered on 6 Mar 2018:

Short Answer: No, my aim was to have drawing and designing as the main part of my career and maths is just a happy side effect.

Long Answer:
I did enjoy Maths in school, though back in 2002 we didn’t get extra points for doing higher level and felt that it was not worth the risk/effort to spend a lot of time studying to try to pass higher level when I could do very little study and get a high mark in the lower level (In the end I got a B1 in ordinary level, with very little study). This was a big negative for me in college though as the maths in engineering gets very difficult (Basically, first year maths in a college engineering course is like leaving certificate higher level maths). If I could go back in time I would do higher level maths in the leaving cert, especially if it is worth 20 extra points.

Having gone through college and learned a lot of maths, I now see that maths applies to everything. It is the language of how the universe works. I even see drag force equations, turbulence formula and force equations when I am teaching someone how to swim (as part of my lifesaving teaching).

So maths is a part of everything we do and will be a part of any career you choose but if you want to have maths as a main part of your career, you can always do maths as your degree, though engineering, science and technology course also have a lot of maths in them. Another good choice is accountancy and actually some engineers do move into the financial sector after college as their level of maths and statistics is so high.