"The Pinnacles are found by adding month and birth days," Gwen said, hand in the air. "Conversely, the Challenges are found by subtracting these numbers."

Cassandra shot her hand in the air "Challenges, like your pinnacles, are in your date of birth, but instead of adding the numbers, you subtract them."

"Just like the pinnacles, challenges can be found on your date of birth. The only difference is that you have to substract, instead of add", The third year said, with her hand in the air.

"Very good answers. Three points to each of you. And one point to everyone else who answered a bit later, though correctly."

Professor Shackleton paced the front of the classroom, much the way she did during every lesson she'd ever given before that, pausing only to ask, "I'd like for someone to please tell me how we calculate the First Challenge?"

Allie raised her hand.
"You calculate the first challenge by subtracting the month of birth from day of birth." she said.
"The day of birth minus the month of birth." she repeated, just to make sure she said it the right way. She was never very good at math.

Astrid raised her hand and said, "First Challenge Number is the day of birth minus the month of birth."

Satisfied with the three points she had earned, Evangeline rose her hand again. "To calculate the First Challenge, we must subtract our month of birth to our day of birth." She replied.

Amelia raised her hand quickly and spoke, though still looking down at her parchment. "You calculate the first challenge number by subtracting your month of birth from the day of your birth."

"You calculate your day of birth and month of birth," Savannah answered, as she continued to write such things down.

Rhiannon raised her hand after checking the textbook one more time. "To calculate the First Challenge, you subtract the month of your birth from the day you were born."

Astrid couldn't wait to find out what her first challenge number was. She did the calculation on her parchment.

Day of Birth = 25/7 minus Month of Birth = 7 equals 0.

Wow! Zero is the Cipher Challenge. She liked the way it sounded.
She remembered one passage in particular that stuck in her mind about this challenge. It went like this, You have full free will to and choice to form your own world as one filled with love, compassion, integrity, vision, and to do great works.
She thought that was marvelous.

"Professor Shackleton, will we be sharing our challenges in class?" She asked.

Determined to better on this lesson than she did on the last. Liz makes sure to take down all the notes she learns in her journal, listening intently to all the words the professor says.

Cassandra raised her hand and said "You subtract your month of birth from the day of your birth."

Anna raised her hand. "You calculate the first challenge by subtracting the month of birth from day of birth."

Melinda was eager to learn, she didn't answer to the first questions because she was just learning. She raised her hand and hoping that it was the right answer, she spoke up. "To calculate the first challenge you subtract the month number from the day of birth" She quickly said and took her hand down.

Steelsheen glanced up from her textbook, raised her hand and replied "We calculate the First Challenge number by subtracting the day of one's birth from the month of one's birth. Taking myself as an example, i was born in the 5th of June. So that would be 5-6= 1. One is my Challenge Number"

"You all have answered quite sufficiently. Two points apiece!"

Professor Shackleton heard the girl's question and replied cheerily, "Ah, I think that is a marvelous idea! Why don't I start and then anyone else who wishes to share may do so. You may also give your opinion of an interpretation of your own or your classmates Challenges, so long as you keep it friendly."

Professor Shackleton used her wand to illuminate calculations in midair, which read:

"Now, if you have your notes from last lesson, you'll have already calculated the Age Ranges for each Pinnacle. They are the same for the Challenges. So you can either choose to recalculate them again or merely copy them from your assignment last lesson.

"Another thing to remember is that if your number comes out to be negative, merely ignore the negative because in Arithmancy, no number can really be negative. We always treat numbers in terms of positive values so merely ignore the negative, or subtract the smaller number from the larger to start so that the answer always comes out positive."

Professor Shackleton walked over to her textbook while explaining, "My first Challenge number was two and took place between birth and 27 years of age. The textbook says the following for the 2 Challenge: One of the most common challenges, the number two stresses sensitivity to all human relations. One aspect of the two, as the symbol for duality, is that it requires constant vigilance to stay balanced in the juggle between two seemingly opposing forces. You will in time learn the balance point and how to maintain it by being sensitive and living in harmony with yourself and with others. The negative aspect of the 2 can deal with fear, timidity, or lack of self-confidence. A potentially painful Challenge, there may be a battle with subordination or unwarranted consideration paid to what others think. The value of this Challenge is that you become sensitive to the emotions and needs of others without sacrificing your own needs at the same time.

"Does anyone have an opinion about this explanation? How it might have played out in my younger years?"

Amelia nodded at the Professor when she told them to calculate their first challenge. Setting her textbook on the table in front of her parchment, she began to copy a heading onto the new page across from last lesson's pinnacles.

Challenges
08/01/2048

First Challenge:
Day - Month of birth
8 - 1 = 7
First Challenge = 7

First Challenge Age: From birth to age (36 - 5) = 0 - 31
Age Range: 0-31years.

The seventh year then listened to the Professor's description of her own first challenge, and reread it in her textbook before raising her hand. "Perhaps during your younger years, you had to learn to balance between multiple items in your life. You may have tended to always be one to care for your own needs before others, and that needed to change...you needed to figure out how to apply your emotions towards those around you; be sensitive and fair to others." She paused, contemplating on those words for a moment. "And er, judging from what I know of you today, I think you succeeded, Professor," she added on quietly, offering a smile.

Allie quickly did out her first hcallenge number and copied her noteds for teh ages from the lst lesson.
First Challenge=1
6/7/2054
6-7=
1

First Challenge Age: 36-4=32
0-32
Second Challenge Age: 32+ 9=41
32-41
Third Challenge Age: 41+9=50
41-50
Fourth Challenge Age: 50 to death

ONE (1): When 1 is your Challenge, you're learning to stand up for yourself, be true to your own ideas and beliefs, be self-reliant, and find the courage to lead. You'll face test after test to determine if you've ultimately learned to stand firm and not compromise yourself. When the 1 is the First Challenge, you're learning to recognize that you have a self; while in the other Challenge positions, it means you're learning to remain true to this self and have self-confidence.

Allie listened to what the Professors Challenge number was, and raised her hand.
"Well for the "duality, is that it requires constant vigilance to stay balanced in the juggle between two seemingly opposing forces. " I think that means you had to learn had to deal twp people that maybe didnt get along. Such as two friends that didn't like eacother, or even divorced parents." she said.
"And eventually you would have learned to deal with them. Also that you would need to learn how to be more sensative towards others." she finished. She wasnt sure if it was right, it had sounded better in her head, but she thought it was better to answer than say nothing at all.

Astrid already had her calculation written down in front of her. She used her wand to copy what she had written in the air just as the professor had showed them. She wrote:

7/25/2054
7 - 25/7
7 - 7 = 0
First Challenge = 0

First Challenge Age = 36 – 7 (Life Path Number)
First Challenge Age = 29
Age Range = 0-29 yrs

My first Challenge number was zero and took place between my birth and 29 years of age. The textbook says the following for the 0 Challenge:

ZERO (0): Also called the Cipher Challenge, it stands for all or nothing. The symbol of the circle, it can be full and empty at the same time. You have full free will to and choice to form your own world as one filled with love, compassion, integrity, vision, and to do great works. When governed by the 0 Challenge, do not take this time lightly. Nurture your desire to make the world a better place in consideration of your Destiny Number and the higher laws of universal order. The person with a 0 Challenge is said to have an 'old soul,' especially if you carry a master number as his or her Soul Number. You are expected to make choices that honor a higher awareness and foster spiritual growth on the material plane.

"I'm not sure just exactly what that means for me." she said "I need to think about it some more but I think that it means that I can make my world just what I want it to be as long as I keep the greater good in mind.."

Steelsheen raised her hand and replied "Professor, I guess the challenge when you were younger was to find a balance between standing up for yourself and what you believe in versus what others tell or expect of you, like peer pressure. Naturally at our age we try to seek out the approval of others, specially people our own age, to feel accepted, to not be left out. But therein lies the problem: that as we keep listening to other people's opinion, our own ideas, our own sense of self, is cast aside for the sake of being appealing to others. The opposite can be said of those who doesnt care about the views of others, who only care for their own opinions and their own feelings. The result is a case of egotism or extreme self-importance.

The challenge is to find the "middle road" so to speak. Listen to what other people say, consider their feedback, however do not sacrifice your own thoughts and opinions in the matter. I guess the goal for those who has this Challenge number is to find a compromise between the opinions of others and their own."


Steelsheen then proceeded to calculate her Life Challenge numbers:


06/05/2054
6-5 = 1
First Challenge= 1

First Challenge Age= 36- Life Path Number
36- 22
36- (2+2)
36-4
First Challenge Age= 32
Age Range= 0-32

My Challenge Number:
ONE (1): When 1 is your Challenge, you're learning to stand up for yourself, be true to your own ideas and beliefs, be self-reliant, and find the courage to lead. You'll face test after test to determine if you've ultimately learned to stand firm and not compromise yourself. When the 1 is the First Challenge, you're learning to recognize that you have a self; while in the other Challenge positions, it means you're learning to remain true to this self and have self-confidence.

After Astrid was finished trying to interpret her own First Challenge, she decided to move on to Professor Shackleton's. She read the description to herself a few times and then raised her hand and said,

"Professor, I think that your challenge indicates the tug-of-war between adolescence and adulthood. Its about the inner growth that you had to face learning to stand up for yourself and your beliefs, while also having compassion for those around you. Its about becoming independent and self-confident and taking others' feeling into account throughout the process. Its about becoming a well rounded individual."

Crystal started jotting down her calculations
31/7/2054
(3+1) 4 - 7 = (-)3
First Challange number = 3
she then looked back to last lessons notes and wrote down her first challange age
First challange age: 36 - 4 = 32 Birth to 32

Once Crissy had done all this she went to her text book and copied down the discription to go with her challange number
When 3 is your Challenge, you're learning to recognize your emotions and speak from the heart. Learn that your words have a significant influence on your life as you may be critical with your words. The negatives of the 3 must be overcome, so work to abandon superficiality, aggrandizement, gossip, conceitedness, and speaking just to hear yourself talk. Under the 3 Challenge, work to use your creative energy to form a loving, positive, and joyful spirit and realize pure, unadulterated happiness.

Crystal looked at her work, it didnt look right to her so she put her hand up, Professor is this right?

Evangeline nodded when Macadrian asked them to calculate their first Challenge and its age. Hmm. She had last lesson's notes somewhere in her notebook, with her pinnacles' ages. When she found them, she grabbed her quill and began doing her calculations.

Date of birth: 05/20/2051

First Challenge:
Day - Month of birth
20 - 05 = 2 - 5 = (-) 3
First Challenge = 3

First Challenge Age: 36 - Life Path number = 36 - 6 = 30
Age Range: 0-30years.

Slightly unaware of what was going on around her, she flipped the pages of her textbook, trying to find what it meant. Arithmancy had a surprising ability of ... being right.

When Professor Shackleton asked them to calculate their first Challenge, Rhiannon flipped to a new page in her journal, so she knew she was going to have enough room for her calculations.

Quote:

birthday: 2/26/2048

First Challenge:

26 - 2
(2 + 6) - 2
8 - 2
6

Referring to her calculations from the Pinnacles. she added the First Challenge Age to the page.

Quote:

First Challenge Age:

36-6 = 30, therefore it is from 0 to 30 years of age

Checking her textbook, which was still open on her desk, she jotted down the meaning for her First Challenge.

Quote:

SIX (6): When 6 is your Challenge, you're learning accountability for others and possibly experiencing burden from family obligations. Learn to attend to others and strike a balance between honoring your commitments to family and to yourself - a balance, meaning that you can't avoid either and must attend to both. Learn to avoid codependency and discover when loyalty, obedience, and the desire to be in charge of the household have stepped overboard. There is a tendency for this Challenge to be too stubborn and set in your opinions, so learn to transfer the energy from the negative to the positive qualities of the 6 - warmth, beauty, and nurturing.

Looking at the explanation, she tried to analyze it in comparison to her life.