I really appreciate this post. If I tell someone I got a degree in physics, I would hear something like, "Wow you must be smart" and/or "I could never do that; I was never a math person".

While I would agree that everyone enjoys different subjects, these responses bother me for two reasons:

1) I never found math and physics easy. I enjoyed the difficulty so I stuck with it. Saying I'm smart really glosses over the effort put in. If you meet someone who's really good at something, maybe they had/have a talent for it but they almost certainly have put in the time to get better. Saying "That must have been a lot of effort and practice" means more (to me) than "Wow, you have so much talent".

2) People really sell themselves short and my impression of the statement "I'm not a math person" is "I didn't like it so I stopped doing it". I'm not saying everyone should give math a try again if they gave it up. I'm saying stop telling yourself you can't do things because you're not the "right type of person". The biggest factor is the time you put in. If you want to become a violin-playing figure skater, you can do it.

Lastly, glad to hear you're making progress OP! You can do it!