[CharlesColeman]

> FWIW, I was told that matrices are linear maps pretty early on in my education. Are there any college level linear algebra / matrix calculations courses that don't tell students about that?

I know they taught us about matrices in high school, but I don't recall them talking about any applications at all. I think the topic was pretty drained of context, just rote application of the rules for add/subtract/multiply/etc.