[lmilcin]

I studied theoretical math.

Step #0: make sure you know what math is

I can't stress it enough. I know this sounds funny, but when I went to study math a lot of people would drop out very quickly because they did not realise that what most people call math and what is taught at high school is completely different from actual theoretical math.

What most people think math is is a collection of formulas that you need to learn to "know math".

Math is actually a dynamic activity and is 100% about solving problems.

Just like programming is not about knowing programming languages. Programming is about solving problems (and knowing programming languages is necessary but not sufficient to be programming).