Mathletes’ Greatest Secrets Finally Revealed Episode 0: Introduction - Why Compete?

Mathletes’ Greatest Secrets Finally Revealed

Episode 0: Introduction - Why Compete? 
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Henry

"Everest North Face toward Base Camp Tibet Luca Galuzzi 2006" by Luca Galuzzi (Lucag) - Photo taken by (Luca Galuzzi) * http://www.galuzzi.it. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.

To echo a famous mountaineer: it's there -- will you climb?

Preliminaries

If you’re reading this, one of these things has happened:

• You want to be the very best (in math), that no one ever was!
• You’ve been admitted into your school math varsity and you want to know what you got yourself into.
• You’ve accumulated experience in a few contests, but you’re stuck in a rut and you don’t know what the next step is.

I wanted to entitle this series A Look at Philippine Competitive Mathematics Initiatives, but my darling editor, Mr Jefferson Morco, told me that the sensationalist Mathletes’ Greatest Secrets Finally Revealed would catch more eyes. But the main motive remains:

My contest days have finished quite long ago, so before my experience grows stale, it's time to share what things I've learned and the little practices that I've found helpful.

There’s too much to talk about in one sitting, so I’ll be posting it in weekly bits. For now, I’ll clarify why you might want to get into this in the first place, and produce some requisite disclaimers. Next week I’ll debunk some common myths about math training. In the weeks following, I will be covering the spectrum of Philippine math contests and training programs, from the perspective of a participant.

Why compete?

This is not as trivial as it sounds. It is a rewarding but serious investment to go beyond frivolous involvement in these events. Though I'm not saying that it's for everybody, I believe many students will find it enjoyable if they give it a shot.

• To be better. When you’re competing, you are greatly incentivized to go above and beyond the standard curriculum. Your nascent math skills deserve that kind of development. You’ll gain a remarkable foundation in pre-calculus, and it will become significantly easier to tackle tertiary-level mathematics in the future, if you so wish.
• Because you enjoy it. This is a necessary condition. I like to think many will come to enjoy this, but if you don't, please don't force yourself into this. It is bordering on mental torture to do this unwillingly. It will steal time from things you truly enjoy (and excel in), and you might come to resent it.
• The applause. Okay, not really – usually after a month or so, nobody in the general public will remember whose face it was on which press release or TV segment (trust me!). But a medal in a well-recognized contest can be a powerful bargaining chip when it’s time to apply to university.
• To see the world. It’s no secret that joining competitions – any extracurricular activity, for that matter – allows you to meet people, visit institutions, and hear about opportunities.

Remember: Whether you’ve started or not, you always have a choice.

Clarifications and Disclaimers

What this is

• Gleaned from personal experience. I strongly believe it will work for you, but everybody’s different.
• Local color. I will be focusing on Philippine-based math contests and training programs.
  • More about local color. As a proud resident of the NCR, most of my local experience resides in NCR-based contests. I don't see any particular reasons why a contest elsewhere should be significantly different, but it might still happen.
• Time-dependent. Some contests change quickly, others keep a more constant pace. In general, they always get harder. If you’re reading this a year or two since posting, I would assume that the standard has gone slightly above what it was in my time.
• Competition-inclined. I will be discussing training programs that train people in competitive mathematics. It’s important to recognize that this is a distinct subgenre. Many training centers focus on the mathematics in the classroom, or the mathematics that will get you through entrance exams. This is not in our scope.

What this is not

• An evaluation/review/comparison. I will not be appraising contests or math programs the way one can tack a score to songs or films or food. I don't have the qualifications for that. I simply lay out how each contest runs, and how I best believe one can perform.
• Official contest information. There are official websites and announcements for that.
• A guarantee. As with all things, training and tips only increase the probability of performing well. It's a commonly accepted fact that a “sure-win” is only a theoretical ideal. As in anything, some element of luck also plays a role!