I agree with you on this point, especially the part about rote memorization. I feel like when you get exposed to calculus for the first time, you're almost expected to accept the definitions for what they are (central limit theorem, etc) without really understanding where it's coming from. 3Blue1Brown's videos, fwiw, seem to do better at explaining the core concepts.

On a tangent, I also feel like college math curriculum kinda don't make sense sometimes because you're hit with more computational heavy classes like calc and stats courses and then they break everything down and rebuild you with proof-based and analysis course at the beginning of your junior year.