I think that sometimes we forget, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, our interests, and the material that bores us or confounds us. Physics was always interesting to me, whereas chemistry was just not easy to comprehend. Likewise, I was Ok with math, but history (especially European history, which was a staple at my college for some reason) was a very, very difficult subject for me.
Rote memorization was always my weak point, whereas time/space and the dimensional stuff was my interest. Probably has something to do with my field of employment (which is loads different from my college degree).
SLIDE:
I hear you. I could memorize the facts of Sir Isaac Newton’s life, the salient points from his “Principia Mathematica”, state his Laws of Motion, and even write out some equations. But to solve actual problems using those equations would take me forever. (....Passes the paper to the husband....)