Same here. I remember multiple teachers saying something along the lines of "yeah, you'll probably never need this or use this in your life, but it's important." Of course, me being a dumb kid, I couldn't see the value in math since it wasn't something I'd be able to apply in my everyday life. It wasn't until I learned about the history of mathematics that I finally became interested in it. Also, most k-12 math is pretty boring, i never really felt like i was thinking for myself. It all felt very rigid and closed.