Same but for computers. As a child I got the engineering books for the 6502 from my father ( he was a power engineer).and they were like a foreign language. But I persisted and read them over and over like I was trying to decode an ancient cipher. And like you, eventually they became clearer and my understanding flourished. Such a cool experience.
I fondly remember seeing the integral symbol and having no idea what it meant, and no internet to check. I remember thinking to myself “This must be important if it’s in this book” and just memorising without understanding. I still write x^(p/q)==q//(x^p) as my goto graffiti!
