Math Experiences

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77 posts

#1 h Jun 2, 2009, 8:57 PM • 645 Y

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An essay I wrote about my math experiences (including experiences with USAMO)

Please feel free to comment, positively or negatively, and share your own experiences.
However, I respectfully ask that you do not comment until you have read the entire essay.
Thank you.

Attachments:

Math Experience.doc (83kb)

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CircleSquared

970 posts

CircleSquared

#2 h Jun 2, 2009, 9:42 PM • 24 Y

Y by rjiang16, mathmaster2000, dantx5, blep, DominicanAOPSer, kbird, acegikmoqsuwy2000, ar07jog, thedoge, InfiniteQandA, mathbw225, MintTea, megarnie, kishblockpro, Adventure10, and 9 other users

I respect this probably more than anything I ever have, because it is so true and heartfelt.

It was nice working with you at AMP 08, good luck for the future.

-PY

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shelly32494

242 posts

shelly32494

#3 h Jun 2, 2009, 9:55 PM • 16 Y

Y by rjiang16, mathmaster2000, dantx5, blep, DominicanAOPSer, eee, ar07jog, MintTea, challengeitmath, Adventure10, Mango247, and 5 other users

Wow. Your 'Math Experience' was quite incredible. It contained so much raw emotion. I deeply respect this.
I'm sorry to hear of your loss. However, I find it amazing that you have so much motivation and self discipline within you to do what you did, going from your first math competition to being usamo honorable mention. All the time you spent doing problem after problem. I applaud you on that. This isn't something many people can do, especially to the extent that you did it. I understand [sort of] how disappointing it must have been to not be a usamo winner despite all the work and effort you put in the last couple of years, although I would like to point out your journey has been a great one. You started much later than most people and ended up much farther ahead than most. You should be proud of that.
I , too, went to AMSP 08. I remember you from the team contest [many congrats; that was beast btw]. I don't think we ever talked, but your mathematical talent is incredible; your efforts really shined through [I watched a bit of the team finals]
There's more to life than usamo, more to life than math competitions. Loosen up a little and have some fun :]
Don't beat yourself up too bad. Continue to pursue your passion as I'm sure you will [Congrats on MIT]. Reading this made me think about my life as well.... I'm glad you've put this in the past & moved on. Thank you for sharing ;]

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Yankzgodzilla55

107 posts

Yankzgodzilla55

#4 h Jun 3, 2009, 12:04 AM • 15 Y

Y by ptxpotterhead, blep, Alnitak, DominicanAOPSer, jhoer, ar07jog, Snowfractals, medhasrisairavi, MintTea, Adventure10, Mango247, and 4 other users

I really don't read many essays on math, but when I do, I don't like them very much. Your experience is absolutely amazing. If you think you lost, just because you weren't in the top 12, you are absolutely WRONG.

Qualifying for the USAMO and the AIME takes tons and tons of hard work. Lemme make this seem realistic. About 500 kids qualify for the USAMO, therefore there are over 14 millions kids (about 27,000 high schools, 500 kids in each). You are in the top 1% of math students around the country.

I am truly sorry to hear what has happened. It must have been very hard for you, but your dad would be proud. Going to MIT, making the USAMO, and most importantly having that faith in you, is truly a perfect math student.

There aren't many kids you start problem solving in late high school, and become one of the top math students in the country. It is truly phenomenal. And don't let people bring you down ever, so what if you do math on a regular basis.

I really want you to congratulate you on this accomplishment. THIS IS NOT THE END. LET ME REPEAT THIS IS NOT THE END.

THIS IS THE BEGINNING, it is start of an amazing journey for you. I wish YOU THE BEST OF luck at MIT, you deserve it greatly. Anyone who dedicates that much time into math, is truly a winner by itself.

I wish you the best of the luck in the future. Please remember this: Problem solving, Math competitions, the AMC, are the beginning steps now take that into the world and shine!

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blackbelt14253

372 posts

blackbelt14253

#5 h Jun 3, 2009, 12:51 AM • 14 Y

Y by mathmaster2000, Baban, love_emojis, colinyao, MintTea, Adventure10, Mango247, and 7 other users

whew...that was a looooooooong essay.
2 pieces of advice:
1) turn this essay into a book and publish it. like, i'm serious. there are plenty of math nerds (sorry if this offended you, but other people would probably be mortified if they were caught reading a book like this) out there that would love to read something like this.
2)be happy that you got into MIT, because that's my goal (and i'm sure that lots of other people also have this goal.)

you made me feel a lot better about whether i will get into MIT or not too, as in "so i don't have to get into MOP 3 times to go to MIT!!!!"

well, yeah, i made MOP. hope this doesn't make you feel like a retard. but that's just because i was fortunate enough to discover competition math in 6th grade (although i had never heard of aops before 8th grade). so i feel quite fortunate.

this essay almost brought tears to my eyes. and i'm supposed to be tough, being a black belt in tae kwon do. i can half-sympathize with your loss. in 8th grade, i got 5th place at states...i was pretty p-o-ed. but losing on the usamo like that...after two years of monk-like piety...ooohh that must hurt.

some random thoughts after reading this AWESOME essay.

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sophia

367 posts

sophia

#6 h Jun 3, 2009, 1:14 AM • 26 Y

Y by mathmaster2000, Dot22, michigo, DominicanAOPSer, jhoer, kbird, hexagram, blep, ar07jog, medhasrisairavi, shankarmath, MintTea, challengeitmath, Adventure10, Mango247, and 11 other users

Your autobiography is very moving, thoughtful, and beautifully written.

I think you have learned a lot of important lessons, some lessons that some much older than you have never learned. Please always remember never to dismiss yourself as "lesser" than anyone based on the outcome of a test. There is so much random noise in how a given student does on a particular test on a particular day. In particular, the difference between your getting an honorable mention on the USAMO (an extraodinary accomplishment for anyone, especially for a student who only discovered the AMC exams in tenth grade!) and someone else placing in the top 12 is not a statistically significant distinction.

What is not random noise is all you have learned from the process of preparing and from your reflections on that process.

One of your conclusions struck me as especially worth noting:

Quote:

I took some time to read over the letters my dad’s students left for him. I have always known him to be very smart, but what his students remember him for most is how he goes to great lengths to help everyone understand, how his door was always open when they needed help.

Then, I resolved that when I grew up to be a math professor, I would try to be just like him. However, now I know, just as he realized, that helping others with my knowledge is just as important as pursuing it, and much more meaningful than trying to be better than everyone else.

I was so sorry to hear that you lost your father at such an early age, and I think your thoughtful and insightful essay--and this statement in particular--would make a parent very proud and happy. No matter what your future path in life, you can know joy in your life from using your knowledge to help others.

I hope you have a wonderful summer visiting your family in Taiwan this summer and great college experiences ahead at MIT.

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Bijection

1563 posts

Bijection

#7 h Jun 3, 2009, 2:03 AM • 9 Y

Y by ar07jog, MintTea, Adventure10, and 6 other users

with such a great work ethic im sure you will be a great mathematician. I think u should consider doing the Putnam just for the sake of the great problems

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timwu

973 posts

timwu

#8 h Jun 3, 2009, 4:30 AM • 13 Y

Y by mathmaster2000, DominicanAOPSer, ar07jog, MintTea, Adventure10, and 8 other users

This is truly an odyssey. As unqualified as I am to say, I think you got more than what there is out of math olympiads. Best luck in your future endeavors.

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Zeph

92 posts

Zeph

#9 h Jun 4, 2009, 12:07 AM • 11 Y

Y by mathmaster2000, greenpepper9999, Dot22, DominicanAOPSer, ar07jog, Adventure10, and 5 other users

I was literally brought to tears by this; I think everyone's suffered the agonizing feeling one gets after a math test where you were just off from advancing. This year, for example, I had a 129/8 index that prevented me from even making USAMO, and I made several very stupid mistakes on the AMC 10 that I would desperately love to fix. On the other hand, I don't think many of us can claim to have the same devotion to problem solving and the same work ethic that you have demonstrated: this skill, and this development of your affinity and intuition in mathematics in particular, is much, much more important than making MOP, I think.

And another thing: it made me happy to find out that you also want to go into mathematics.

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K81o7

2417 posts

K81o7

#10 h Jun 4, 2009, 3:52 AM • 17 Y

Y by coolcheetah157, mathmaster2000, Dot22, blueflute19, DominicanAOPSer, kbird, ar07jog, Adventure10, Mango247, and 8 other users

I have to say, I could really feel the sequence of thoughts you put across in this essay. From the time I really started taking the AMC competition seriously in my freshman year, through two years of missing the USAMO by an AIME point, I feel I had the same sort of thoughts as you initially had (except I wasn't training as hard). I saw the competitions as actual competitions, and, as you said, didn't enjoy them as much as I could have. There was always the nail-biting nervousness as time ran out, the anxiety afterwards of making mistakes you would not have made had you just looked that one more time...And I took as much free time as I could to do that one more AIME problem, one more problem from the Pre-Olympiad forum, one more USAMO problem...

And the sinking feeling afterwards...I'm sure I had it nowhere nearly as bad, since I had two more chances, but I remember it vividly.

Quote:

I wanted to be the best, but there’s no point. Isn’t there room in the US for thousands of math professors? We should all work hard, but it’s not necessary to be better than everyone else: everyone working in the field contributes to it in some way, and often the work of hundreds of unknown people matters greatly. Who are we to judge?

If you anticipate fame and glory ahead, every failure will be that much more disappointing, but if you truly enjoy struggling with problems, it will only motivate you to continue. If you don’t look for competition, you will like what you do without needing to win, and because of the purity of your motivation, likely find success as well.

I think that these two paragraphs, in particular the very last sentence, resonates soundly with me. I know this is the most important thing I learned from math competitions. Before I found, in my sophomore year (2006), I'd missed the USAMO just barely for a second time (and the year I was hoping to make blue), I would always be measuring people's worth by what they did. How good were they at math? Music? Other subjects? Etc etc...the math competitions were a measure of my worth, they were what made me feel I had purpose, something I was good at.

After that, I think I re-evaluated things and the two paragraphs above were close to my thoughts then. In general, I think I also really started to understand that in any competition of any kind, there are factors you cannot change, luck elements. It's impossible to absolutely guarantee you'll end up at the top, even if you're Alex Zhai. Now there are some extremely smart people I know who did not do so well at these competitions. I kinda let go of the competition part, and simply tried to enjoy the mathematics in every competition I did. And I started to try to let go of the competitive rush too.

(skip the next two years of high school)

I'm glad to know you took these lessons from your competitive experience going into college (and glad to know MIT's getting someone like you, I'll keep an eye out for you among math majors

). Once you get to college, I'll be honest, it's extremely collaborative, doing math because you love it with other like-minded people. Even though math competitions seemed like the end-all be-all of high school, I look back at it now along with people who didn't do competitions and we laugh at it over a math problem. And yeah, tbh people don't care all that much about Putnam in college... What you've got ahead of you is much bigger, and it looks like you're perfectly prepared for it.

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silversheep

77 posts

silversheep

#11 h Jun 5, 2009, 2:43 PM • 28 Y

Y by soulspeedy, CalcCrunch, DrMath, coolcheetah157, mathmaster2000, Dot22, shiningsunnyday, DominicanAOPSer, kbird, eee, Samchooo, ar07jog, Talker32332, Kayak, Stormersyle, scibeast, OlympusHero, Adventure10, Mango247, Mango247, and 8 other users

Thanks to everyone for your positive and supportive comments! I admit, I never thought this would resonate so much with everyone. I'll be sure to take your advice to heart.

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greentreeroad

484 posts

greentreeroad

#12 h Jun 5, 2009, 4:09 PM • 3 Y

Y by ar07jog, Adventure10, and 1 other user

What a touching and profound soliloquy! Look forward to see you in MIT this fall.

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BOGTRO

5818 posts

BOGTRO

#13 h Jun 5, 2009, 10:40 PM • 12 Y

Y by whiteawesomesun, Alnitak, eee, kishblockpro, challengeitmath, Adventure10, Mango247, and 5 other users

This is a very nice piece of work. Some random thoughts I had were:

* I didn't think you should have spent every spare moment on difficult math problems. It might have been good to take an hour or so a day to just have fun. A computer game, a good book, anything probably would have helped. Although working is a good thing, too much of a good thing is... too much of a good thing.

* I was glad that you began working very hard and continued to do so even after your tragedy. I was also glad that you were not discouraged by the USAMO. You have great perseverence.

* Math competitions aren't that important. Until you do them.

* I felt that if you had heard of math competitions earlier, even just a year, you would have had a good chance at MOSP. If you had heard of math competitions at the age I did (4th grade), I have no doubt you would have been a USAMO winner.

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Ihatepie

2083 posts

Ihatepie

#14 h Jun 6, 2009, 12:50 AM • 6 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247, and 4 other users

BOGTRO wrote:

* Math competitions aren't that important. Until you do them.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you here. While we may get caught up in the moment and think that they are, math competitions are not important. If that's what you are saying, then disregard this post.

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Bijection

1563 posts

Bijection

#15 h Jun 6, 2009, 3:02 AM • 4 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247, and 2 other users

BOGTRO wrote:

This is a very nice piece of work. Some random thoughts I had were:

* I didn't think you should have spent every spare moment on difficult math problems. It might have been good to take an hour or so a day to just have fun. A computer game, a good book, anything probably would have helped. Although working is a good thing, too much of a good thing is... too much of a good thing.

* I was glad that you began working very hard and continued to do so even after your tragedy. I was also glad that you were not discouraged by the USAMO. You have great perseverence.

* Math competitions aren't that important. Until you do them.

* I felt that if you had heard of math competitions earlier, even just a year, you would have had a good chance at MOSP. If you had heard of math competitions at the age I did (4th grade), I have no doubt you would have been a USAMO winner.

HM is still amazing and is something many MOPpers will never achieve!!

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solvemath2

486 posts

solvemath2

#115 h Apr 1, 2016, 1:53 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

I don't mean to revive this thread too much but...wow. An emotional essay that really shows your personality. I wish I could have the same willpower as you. Amazing.

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rafayaashary1

2541 posts

rafayaashary1

#116 h Apr 1, 2016, 2:10 AM • 1 Y

Y by Adventure10

This is so inspiring

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adihaya

1632 posts

adihaya

#117 h Apr 1, 2016, 2:46 AM • 8 Y

Y by MathSlayer4444, 62861, spin8, Temp456, DrMath, niyu, Adventure10, Mango247

^^^ Thank you for sharing. Your opinion is probably right, as it is confirmed by the over 100 above posts saying exactly the same thing.

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rafayaashary1

2541 posts

rafayaashary1

#118 h Apr 1, 2016, 3:00 AM • 1 Y

Y by Adventure10

lol yeah

The author should feel proud

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biomathematics

2568 posts

biomathematics

#119 h Apr 1, 2016, 4:59 PM • 1 Y

Y by Adventure10

This was just beautiful....

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FlyingCucumber

1675 posts

FlyingCucumber

#120 h Apr 1, 2016, 10:20 PM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

I will be downvoted for this but it was meh. This article isn't life-changing but it is touching while not as amazing as many aopsers are making it out to be. Well-written but a bit boring.

And I was right, aops is so predictable.

This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by FlyingCucumber, Apr 1, 2016, 10:32 PM

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User254881

633 posts

User254881

#121 h Apr 1, 2016, 10:21 PM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

FlyingCucumber wrote:

I will be downvoted for this but it was meh. This article isn't life-changing but it is touching while not as amazing as many aopsers are making it out to be. Well-written but a bit boring.

Umm...

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First

2352 posts

First

#122 h Apr 1, 2016, 10:26 PM • 3 Y

Y by User254881, Adventure10, Mango247

A good honest article.

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User254881

633 posts

User254881

#123 h Apr 1, 2016, 10:35 PM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

First wrote:

A good honest article.

Yup.

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natalielon

3 posts

natalielon

#124 h Jul 22, 2016, 9:49 PM • 1 Y

Y by Adventure10

Very touching. You seem extremely perseverant.

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MrMXS

699 posts

MrMXS

#125 h Jul 22, 2016, 10:04 PM • 1 Y

Y by Adventure10

I read this every time I get discouraged. It helps.

Beautiful essay that was very well written.

This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by MrMXS, Sep 15, 2016, 4:14 AM

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theguamian

852 posts

theguamian

#126 h Nov 23, 2016, 3:58 AM • 5 Y

Y by AMC_Kid, annieliu12, InfiniteQandA, Adventure10, Mango247

I am in 7th grade and I recently got a pretty "meh" score on the AMC8. But what really pissed me off is that whenever I took the practice tests I would take near-perfect scores. So, this essay really changed my outlook and I am going to look to work harder because I don't think I deserve what I can do today. Most kids have to work to do what I can but the fact that I just sit around watching random YouTube videos. You really taught me a lot and I think I should start to look to the future. After all, who can judge me for my old AMC8 scores? So today, to the AoPS community, I have a promise. Although no one may ever read this comment, I am going to work harder than what I do right now. I am going to make sure I go to MathCounts States this year and get top 30. Many of my friends reading this will laugh and say I am a cocky idiot, thinking I can do that. But I promise I will try my very best. Thank You for the touching essay!

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coolmath34

1376 posts

coolmath34

#127 h Nov 25, 2016, 1:21 AM • 2 Y

Y by InfiniteQandA, Adventure10

Same here, I'm in 5th grade and I took the AMC8 this year, and actually got a pretty good score! This also changes my outlook on my math life!

-Cubey

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sincostangent

30 posts

sincostangent

#128 h Nov 25, 2016, 4:37 AM • 4 Y

Y by divijleisha, InfiniteQandA, Adventure10, Mango247

I've read this entire essay more than once and it has not failed to move me every time. Although not many AoPSers may be able to truly connect to the author, I think everyone has something to learn from someone who has journeyed through high school and perhaps experienced and overcame many more challenges and frustrations than many of us.

What I get from the essay most is the ardent belief that hard work will eventually turn into success, though failure is almost always inevitable along the way. Furthermore, this success is not totally materialistic, a "higher score" or a Fields medal. It can be meaningful in other ways as well. Glory, fame, getting into a good college, winning competitions, and other utilitarian things can be replaced by passion, inspiration, dedication, and much more.

On a related note, a good time to be thankful today...

First, I am thankful for my parents and family, knowing that I'm forever in their debt. I realize that many times I take them for granted, and then I am greatly saddened when I know there are many out there like me who have lost a parent or close family member. I am thankful for my friends, my school, my community (which includes AoPS), all of which give me an extremely vibrant and open opportunity for discussion and for a meaningful social life, with well-developed relationships. I am thankful for my teachers, who have taught me much more than in the classroom. I am thankful to those, whether supernatural or not, that have made it possible for me to be where I am today, breathing and typing here.

Sometimes it helps to look not at what you don't have, but what you do have.

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smo

179 posts

smo

#129 h Nov 25, 2016, 8:23 PM • 5 Y

Y by premchandj, InfiniteQandA, scibeast, Adventure10, Mango247

I cannot upvote this enough. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for writing such a beautiful piece of work and I hope you never lose sight of the raw, powerful, undeterred passion you have for math.

This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by smo, Nov 25, 2016, 8:23 PM

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