Math
Ever since I was a toddler, I have been fascinated by math. Some of my earliest memories involve my father and I walking down the street, counting up and down by 2’s, 3’s and 4’s. Whenever my uncle or grandfather visited, they would quiz me, disguising problems in multiplication and division with analogies to Legos and KitKats, and rewarding me with some hidden candy, to the disapproval of my parents.
I started joining math competitions in 2nd grade. I enjoy them a lot.
Russian School of Mathematics (RSM) Team
I have been on the RSM Team since my Sophomore year. I am currently the Team Captain. We solve complex problem sets and learn high-level mathematical theories. In the 2021 Harvard MIT Math Tournament GUTS , I led a team of six students. In the Guts Round we placed #1 overall and in the Sweep Round we placed #7 overall out of 103 teams. As an individual, I ranked #35 out of 554 individuals. We also participated in the Berkeley Math Tournament, Yale Math Tournament, and Purple Comet Math Tournament. Our team is coached by Dr. Jan Shubert.
High School Math Team
I am a member of my school’s math team. I began participating when I was in 7th grade, with my middle school’s team, MathCounts. This participation is what sparked my love for competitive math. Through participation in my school’s team, I was exposed to an entirely new side of mathematics which I hadn’t seen before. I got to work and learn in a fun environment, where I gained the experience and confidence necessary to study a more rigorous level of mathematics and to participate in more difficult levels of competition.
I treasure my experiences in my local math team. Much of my work over the past two years on my school’s team, first as a coach and now as president, has been to share my passion with other students. I’ve worked with my fellow officers to foster a sense of unity and belonging among incoming students. We personally visit each freshman math class to explain our team in a gentle and approachable manner. We contribute to our school’s yearly carnival by setting up a booth with fun math-based tricks and guessing games.
My favorite activity, however, is our team’s weekly ‘lessons’. Typically, another student and I take problem ideas one may encounter during competitions, and we explain them to team members, to ‘de-mystify’ mathematics. Gradually, what may seem to be random and magical calculations becomes a logical, ordered thought process.
My school’s math team is my go-to place, whether to work, to laugh, or to just hang out!
Middle School Mathcounts
As a member of the Scarsdale Middle School Mathcounts team when I was an 8th grader, we won 1st in State, and 1st in County as a team in 2019, While I won 21st in State, and 2nd in County as an individual. In 7th grade we were 4th in State as a team, and I was top 10 in County Individual. Check out these articles about us in the local news.
Circuits Project
Last year, I took the digital logic design (DLD) class offered at my school. The culminating project of this class was to construct a traffic light with certain modes of operation depending on the input of the user. I, along with two of my peers, created the following presentation and video explanation.
