Trying to use the "e" symbol on my calculator but

Hello,
You are not using the correct syntax of the exponential function.
[SHIFT][e^x] ( number) .
[SHIFT][e^x] 1 EXE] gives 2.718281828
[SHIFT][e^x] [(-)] 3 gives 0.04978706837 . The (-) is the change sign to the left of the [EXE] key.

For simple arguments the parentheses are not necessay, but it is safer to use them to avoid ambiguities and erroneous results.
Hope it helps.