I think Japanese school system just sucks.
Plus, Tsumiki isn't a particularly intellectual person in the first place.
Personally, I liked math a lot. Math makes sense, unlike subjects like history, which can only be memorized.
And unlike literature, you are unlikely to be traumatized by things that happen in math or physics. The worst thing in physics is the fate of Shroedinger's cat. While literature is mostly made of various kinds of suffering.
I wouldn't bash the system so hard. Problems with conceptualization are normal. There are a lot of people who have a difficulty with abstract, and they SUFFER when (not only) maths problems get from concrete to abstract. The process of mathematical education is constructed in such a way that it follows the path from concrete to abstract quite smoothly for an
average person, but it still is too much for some people. Those people have their own strengths and when you give them enough time and concrete examples for which the conceptualization works. In the case of moving P, maybe comparing the width of a road/track would help? And with the tanks, there are many concrete uses that lean into physics later.
As for you, the biggest mistake ever is to go for a hard memorization. I always had the worst time memorizing dates, but when you think of the history as a series of continuous events instead of those events happening on their own at a specific time, it gets way easier. Only after you understand the events, you go for putting them at the time axis.
And literature isn't mostly about suffering! I mean, films and TV series and comics and manga are also literature.
...I'm a huge nerd, ain't I?