I've been tutoring high school math for six years, and I still wonder if teaching calculus without real-world context is doing students a disservice. When I ask my students why they need derivatives, most say 'to pass the exam,' which makes me think we're prioritizing abstract rules over actual understanding. Is mastering mathematical techniques more important than knowing when and why to apply them? I've seen students who can solve complex equations but freeze when faced with a word problem, so maybe we need to shift the balance.