INSPIRATIONAL STORY: My AIME qual
by RedFlame2112, Feb 8, 2021, 1:57 PM
yes I KNOW I posted this in the AIME qual thread. But I honestly think it deserves some place in my blog. Hope it inspires you if you're taking the AMC 10/12B soon 
When I was in the 4th grade, I first found out about the AMC8 mathematics contest. Long before then, Soldier RedFlame was born in a classic, cutthroat indian extended family where all of us family members take turns at loggerheads with each other. My dad's rivalry was pretty intense with his younger brother in particular (my uncle), and his daughter-- my cousin-- was always in the spotlight compared to me. Where I scored an 8 on the AMC8 the first time I took it... my cousin scored a 20. I felt like a total black spot on our family. When you cause yourself pain, you alone bear the fruits of your actions, so it doesn't hurt as much. But I bore my dad a ton of pain. Always his daughter or her son doing and being better than me, whereas I was left in the dust no matter HOW hard I tried. To my younger eyes, it seemed that my dad had to bear the weight of a failure of a son. When someone else seems responsible for your actions, the pain manifests itself a thousand fold. Hence, I was raised on the principle of failure is not an option, since even my little mistakes can cause collateral damage. And in some cases, yes that's true... But not always.
Thankfully, in early October of 2013, I came across AoPS thanks to -- of all things -- a misspelling error when trying to find cool study "apps"
Artofproblemsolving.com saved my life. I learned not how to be perfect. AoPS is HORRIBLE at making people perfect!!! Rather, AoPS teaches you to MAKE MISTAKES so that you LEARN from them. And that pure essence of learning, disillusioned me. I saw that the whole nine yards isn't about only doing problems until you can't get them wrong. It's about doing problems outside your comfort zone-- problems that you WILL most likely get wrong, but problems that TEACH you to feel comfortable even outside your normal comfort zone. So that walking into the AMCs will feel like a cakewalk.
So there goes the grind. 50 questions on Alcumus, 5 days a week, with 100 problems on Alcumus for Saturday. Problems, problems, problems. And outside my difficulty level. I struggled; heck yes I struggled. If you look at my alcumus profile, I have far more incorrect problems than 2nd-try correct problems. But you'll also see, I gave up in only THREE problems in my entire history with the software. Because this life you're given isn't about giving up. Life is about breaking eggs so that you'll learn how to correctly cook them. I carried this learning with me through my training with the AMC10 in 2018.
That year, my cousin, who wasn't familiar with AoPS sadly, got a 93 on the AMC10. However, my 8 from the AMC8 turning into a 124.5 on the AMC 10 brought a new feeling to my family. One of pride. One of happiness. Strangely, I didn't feel as happy with my parents' pride as I should've been. Don't get me wrong, I was happy. But looking back, I honestly felt that my journey wasn't for my parents. It was for myself. Only you reap the most important benefits of your own success.
Well, that was my story. Seems pretty common, doesn't it? Well... I guess even common stories can teach ya something. Sorry if I took a ton of your time, but I hope my story helps all ya 10/12B takers in about 2 days
When I was in the 4th grade, I first found out about the AMC8 mathematics contest. Long before then, Soldier RedFlame was born in a classic, cutthroat indian extended family where all of us family members take turns at loggerheads with each other. My dad's rivalry was pretty intense with his younger brother in particular (my uncle), and his daughter-- my cousin-- was always in the spotlight compared to me. Where I scored an 8 on the AMC8 the first time I took it... my cousin scored a 20. I felt like a total black spot on our family. When you cause yourself pain, you alone bear the fruits of your actions, so it doesn't hurt as much. But I bore my dad a ton of pain. Always his daughter or her son doing and being better than me, whereas I was left in the dust no matter HOW hard I tried. To my younger eyes, it seemed that my dad had to bear the weight of a failure of a son. When someone else seems responsible for your actions, the pain manifests itself a thousand fold. Hence, I was raised on the principle of failure is not an option, since even my little mistakes can cause collateral damage. And in some cases, yes that's true... But not always.
Thankfully, in early October of 2013, I came across AoPS thanks to -- of all things -- a misspelling error when trying to find cool study "apps"
Artofproblemsolving.com saved my life. I learned not how to be perfect. AoPS is HORRIBLE at making people perfect!!! Rather, AoPS teaches you to MAKE MISTAKES so that you LEARN from them. And that pure essence of learning, disillusioned me. I saw that the whole nine yards isn't about only doing problems until you can't get them wrong. It's about doing problems outside your comfort zone-- problems that you WILL most likely get wrong, but problems that TEACH you to feel comfortable even outside your normal comfort zone. So that walking into the AMCs will feel like a cakewalk.
So there goes the grind. 50 questions on Alcumus, 5 days a week, with 100 problems on Alcumus for Saturday. Problems, problems, problems. And outside my difficulty level. I struggled; heck yes I struggled. If you look at my alcumus profile, I have far more incorrect problems than 2nd-try correct problems. But you'll also see, I gave up in only THREE problems in my entire history with the software. Because this life you're given isn't about giving up. Life is about breaking eggs so that you'll learn how to correctly cook them. I carried this learning with me through my training with the AMC10 in 2018.
That year, my cousin, who wasn't familiar with AoPS sadly, got a 93 on the AMC10. However, my 8 from the AMC8 turning into a 124.5 on the AMC 10 brought a new feeling to my family. One of pride. One of happiness. Strangely, I didn't feel as happy with my parents' pride as I should've been. Don't get me wrong, I was happy. But looking back, I honestly felt that my journey wasn't for my parents. It was for myself. Only you reap the most important benefits of your own success.
Well, that was my story. Seems pretty common, doesn't it? Well... I guess even common stories can teach ya something. Sorry if I took a ton of your time, but I hope my story helps all ya 10/12B takers in about 2 days
This post has been edited 4 times. Last edited by RedFlame2112, Feb 8, 2021, 3:25 PM
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