This is a short essay I wrote in 2014 to share with my students, after hearing the inevitable "I'm not good at math." as a reaction to some quantitative topics in class.  I hope that it is not too preachy, but rather points students to think in a different way about math ability.   It was (seemingly) well-received by freshmen in an intro bio course.  Perhaps it could be used to start an in-class discussion about math ability, how to approach one's own academic "weaknesses", and the "growth" mindset....  (more on the growth mindset here: http://www.mindsetworks.com/webnav/whatismindset.aspx)