Students Win First Place at State Math League Contest

Although some students look forward to returning home and relaxing after a long day of school, there is a large handful of students who participate in after school activities. Various sports and clubs are offered in order to draw peers closer to each other and bring school spirit. One group of students even competes in nation wide mathematics competitions. On April 16, juniors Madonna Bisada, Jeremy Chang, Sean Harrigan, Tobi Ola, and Yanshuo Zhang won first place in team and in the Power Round at the State Math Competition.

“I joined [the group] because I am not only a very competitive person, but  I also find it fun to solve math problems. Additionally, I like the fact that the competition is a team event so that we can communicate together and share answers,” said Bisada.

The State Math League Contest is a competition where students can do math for fun while competing against students from around the country. The contest consists of many difficult tests that are to be completed. Whoever gets the highest score gets first place.

“[There are] all types of weird math problems at the contest. Proofs, calculator and non-calculator problems, and lots more. Many of them are not learned in school, so you have to learn by yourself outside [of class]” said Zhang.

Contests require lots of brainpower and teamwork in order to be successful in answering the questions on the test. Questions are said to be so difficult, that a 50% on the Math League Contest assessments is enough to qualify for state.

“Contests consist of five rounds. The power question is a series of questions, most requiring proofs, centered around some theme that a team works together to solve. The second round is the team round where a team works to solve ten questions in a short amount of time. Then there are two different individual rounds where students compete by themselves. And finally, the relay [is] where teams of three students work to solve three problems. Each person get their own question and passes their answer onto the next person, who will use that answer to solve theirs and pass it on to the third person, who will use it to get the final answer,” said Harrigan.

All five students were able to successfully answer the questions that were presented to them, and managed to achieve the highest score out of any other team. Lots of pressure is put onto the group as they are under a time limit, and face off against numerous other groups.

“The problems in the competition are usually very complex. Although they are complex, the process to solve them is very fun, and it is very fulfilling to finish these questions,” said Chang.

Math can be exciting and rewarding through effort and teamwork. Although it may not be the strongest or most favorable subject for some students, it is still an essential part of education. The State Mathleague Contest combines learning and fun into a single factor, and even allows teamwork, something which is typically not allowed during math tests, in order to succeed.

by Sagar Samuel