guess i don't understand the question
i know how to solve problems but guess i don't necessarily know when i am using algebra...
trig is mostly plugging in values into SOHCAHTOA
stats is, well, stats
and physics has the required formulas perfected where the hardest part is knowing which one to use and then plugging in the variables
for the things i used them for anyway...
i passed algebra one and two but like i said, i guess i just don't know when i'm actually using it since it never looks in real life like it did in class
All algebra is, is the manipulation of symbols to an end goal subject to a grammar (a body of logically consistent rules!). If you write computer programs you use an algebra. I argue also if you write grammatical sentences in a natural language you use an algebra. (Yes arithmetic is an "algebra"!)
You actually don't have to physically write anything down to do algebra, does Stephan Hawking write anything down? (Yes he uses algebra, the high school version as well as the other more abstract algebras.) I am sure he does some mental “algebra” to check his ideas before he communicates to his assistants.