"Oh S***!!!":

"OH, S***!": THE MIRACLE SUDOKU

We all know the feeling… You get that crazy-looking problem on a math test and you think, “Oh, SHOE! I have no idea what to do!” You start getting that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, a feeling that is a combination of helplessness, despair, anxiety, nausea, upset, and perhaps even a tinge of anger. You start thinking that either the teacher is trolling you by giving you a problem that is impossible to solve, or that the teacher has neglected his duties and has given you a problem that he has not taught you how to do.

In any case, all you can do in the moment is say, “Oh, SHOE! Oh, SHOE!! Oh, SHOE!!!” as you fret over a problem that you know in your heart you’ll never be able to solve. You start by getting angry at yourself for not studying harder. Not wanting to accept full blame for your tribulations, you then proceed to get infuriated at your wicked teacher for assigning an evilly impossible problem. The anger then pivots to the fear you feel knowing that your parents are about to rain down their wrath on you in the very near future…

These thoughts and emotions wage war within you, all while time continues to tick away and the problem continues to patiently sit there, lonely for your thoughts and for your company. As you feel abandoned by either your teacher or your mental capacity, you still can’t fully decide which one to cast sole blame on. The problem feels abandoned by you and yearns for your pencil to caress the information that it is giving you so that it can finally begin to penetrate through the fog and frustration that have paralyzed you from the moment you gazed upon the problem and decided that it had victory over you.

If you’ve ever been through this range of emotions before whilst taking a math test or a test of any sort, you must spend the next 25 minutes watching Simon Anthony solve a Sudoku. In it, Anthony presents a master class on perseverance and calm, patient deduction. Watch it and it will be the highlight of your day... I almost guarantee it!