The joy of doing exercises

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I am enjoying doing the little exercises for my exercise class. It is very nice to have concrete, well-defined, definite problems. It is also nice when there is more than one way of proving the same thing (though it is always tougher when it comes to correcting the exercises). 

Honestly, maths may be tough, but they are so nice. A bit like what happens with sports. I can get so absorbed trying to solve a problem, or trying to find a shorter, clearer proof. I can spend hours. I used to spend hours as a student and then hours as a PhD student on just one question. It is hard to describe, I get so immersed in it, that I forget about myself. At points, I get frustrated if I feel I am taking "too much time" to solve it, but yeah, I like the process. In maths the answer is not just the answer: it is the answer and how you get to it.

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