Mathematics
MathcountsMy journeys in competitive mathematics started in 5th grade when I began sitting in on the middle school Mathcounts practices. I was mesmerized by this whole new world in math that I was being introduced to and realizing I had a knack for it, I began studying. In middle school, I joined both the Mathcounts team and the math team and began pouring countless hours into AOPS textbooks, Mathcounts handbooks, previous contests, and so much more every single day. In my last year (8th grade), I represented our school at the Illinois Mathcounts state level and placed fourth.
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Math teamI joined my high school's math team in freshman year and have been a varsity member ever since. We participate in the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM), Illinois Math League (IML), and North Suburban Math League (NSML) contests, all of which I have won a great number of awards in. In my junior year, I placed second in the state in the individual ICTM contests, first place in the state in the IML contests after acing every contest, and got a perfect score on every NSML contest pushing my grade to take first in the state. Math team allows me to pursue my interests in mathematics alongside my peers in a fun and collaborative manner.
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USOJMO and the MAAThe Mathematics Association of America (MAA) contests are what I have put the most time and effort into during my career in competitive mathematics. I was on the Distinguished Honor Roll (top 1%) for the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 10 and have qualified for the American Invitation Mathematics Exam (AIME) three times, first in 8th grade. However, my most notable accomplishment in the MAA exams and probably my entire competitive math career was my qualification for the United States Online Junior Mathematics Olympiad (USOJMO, the online equivalent of USAJMO in 2020) in 10th grade. I scored a 16 in the contest, putting myself around the top 80 in the nation among all 10th graders and below.
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CommunityThe primary reason I love the world of competitive math is because of the supportive community and environment I have found. The collaborative spirit on these engaging challenges is like none other. One of the places I truly found this environment was within the selective AwesomeMath Summer Programs I attended at UTD the summer after 8th grade and Cornell University the summer after 9th grade. I have begun to give back to this amazing community through volunteer math tutoring in both a formal and informal setting.
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