Interviews of high achieving adults who attended Ivy League schools or pursued master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM including parents of such successful adults revealed that beliefs about one’s ability drives motivation and perseverance to learn math. Beliefs about one’s ability to learn math is not static it is a process of becoming as the individual interacts in the school, home, and social environment. Parents and teachers will gain insights on how to create conditions to support a child to be successful in math and persevere..