<p>Sorry, that sounded a little insensitive… but I know who you’re talking about. Is that you?</p>
<p>Haha no problem. I edited my post btw. Yes, that is me, and I’m half black (half asian). So you do know who I am! I know your team captain, have talked to him several times.</p>
<p>Thank you, although the second half of your post still has the name haha… And wow, it’s insane that I’m meeting you. Small world. And it’s extra weird that I was recently thinking about whether you specifically had applied to MITES…</p>
<p>Guys, run is a genius. Like, seriously. Pat him on the back.</p>
<p>Wow, I didn’t even catch that… whoops. Well I can’t edit it now… I don’t think it will cause any issues anyways. Sorry! Yeah, I was thinking it’s a small world too. I’ll probably get to meet you at State this year! I’m pretty amazed myself that I get to talk to someone from your school on here.</p>
<p>We live in such a small world dont we? Lol. Although I don’t know anything that is going on atm lol.</p>
<p>Run, how did you improve your school’s team? I plan on running for president of my school’s math and science club and I really want us to at least make it to region lol.</p>
<p>OMG!!! Aero!!! It’s me, that one guy you met the other day!!! I can’t believe you actually applied to MITES. All this time I thought you were just a random dude at that one place, but you’re Aero! </p>
<p>THE ONE AND ONLY AERO!!!</p>
<p>I just s**t myself…</p>
<p>TWICE!!!</p>
<p>It’s an honor to meet you. Namast</p>
<p>It’s such a small world, that I’m singing that one song about having “the whole world in my hands…”</p>
<p>…and I’m taking it literally.</p>
<p>I just bought a microscope so that I may take a gander at this tiny world.</p>
<p>Holy balls!!!</p>
<p>It’s so small I can’t even find it at x1000 magnification.</p>
<p>The world is tiny as hell!</p>
<p>I just rented a scanning electron microscope…</p>
<p>I still can’t see it!!! It’s smaller than subatomic!!!</p>
<p>Wait…</p>
<p>I just dropped the slide and it shattered into a billion pieces…</p>
<p>How the f**k am I supposed to find a subatomic world on the floor?!?!</p>
<p>What if I step on it and kill everyone?!?!?!?</p>
<p>::::((((((((((((((((</p>
<p>Riv is seriously funny. I think he wants to minor in comedy y’all. And may be using this as his personal Twitter. Just putting it out there.lol</p>
<p>I can’t find the world. My solar system set is now incomplete.</p>
<p>I also burnt my finger trying to find Venus.</p>
<p>I should have poked North Korea with a needle while the world was in my hands.</p>
<p>That blog really needs to get done ***** xD</p>
<p>@Rivstein just to complete your series of posts with a very horrible, overused joke, I’m sure you also had an interesting time trying to find Uranus… I’m sorry.</p>
<p>@Sky360 It’s actually pretty amazing how quickly my team rose up to be competitive. We aren’t the best, but we went from being nobody at Region to being leaders in our Region in several events over the course of the last three years. In fact, in 9th grade I didn’t really know anything about Calculator, and the next year, with four people who didn’t make Region last year, we won Region and went to State. Then again, our Region, although 5A, wasn’t THAT competitive in Calculator.</p>
<p>In 9th I did Number Sense, practiced hard, and got 12th at Region to my very great disappointment. Over the summer, after a couple months break, I started practicing again and that is when I became good. One thing that really helped me was this online math forum. I asked questions, and on the same site as the forum were many tests that I used to get good. If you’re wondering, the site is [TCM</a> - The Texas Math and Science Community](<a href=“http://www.texasmath.org%5DTCM”>http://www.texasmath.org), and on the left side you’ll see a bunch of tests under “Downloads” and the forum, on which I am (along with Areo’s team captain he was referring to.) It turns out that some of the best people on the state were on there before, and I learned a lot from them and independent study. When I came back I began winning a bunch of competitions, and with practice I got to become one of the better people in the State. If you have enough dedication and a good math background behind you, you can become good quickly. </p>
<p>After I began getting good, I became captain of one team (NS) and the unofficial captain of the other math events, because the people running them didn’t care. At that point, we really had no good juniors or seniors on any team. I got a couple of freshmen to become dedicated, and it turns out these two current sophomores are the #2 and #3 on every math event. I taught after school on certain subjects, and because I knew a lot, I could help them and get them prepared. Although they didn’t make any teams (well, one became our #2 NS guy but didn’t make State that year) they became pretty good and this year, made all three (so our NS, Math, and Calc teams have the same top 3.) I’ve been lecturing afterschool and I actually typed up some papers to help my team advance. I got them on the math forum and got them to ask questions. Now they are pretty good, although they definitely have room for improvement (as we all do) and we’re likely going to State!</p>
<p>The point is that you’re going to need a bit of luck as well. There are several reasons why the team has risen so quickly. Here is a list of factors that I think helped.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A good math/science background. Although I feel like there can be improvement (I am rarely satisfied with something if I feel it could be improved, made more challenging, rigorous, etc.), I cannot complain about the math and science curriculum at my school. I finished Calc AB as a freshman, from taking Alg. I in middle school (okay, I took Geometry as well but I retook it as a freshman… stupid.) I’m currently in AP Chem, AP Physics B, and took AP Bio last year. Because of this, I have a good advantage over many other students who don’t have the opportunity to take these courses. If this is you, then you can still be good as long as you excel in what you do have.</p></li>
<li><p>Good resources. Although my school was never that good in math, though they did go to State in science before (although they placed unimpressively there), I have a coach, who turns out to coach all three math teams and was my math teacher for 9th and 10th grade (I had him three periods out of eight in 9th grade.) My coach is awesome, and has really helped my team pull through. He is willing to give us what support we need in order to improve. He has some friends at other schools that coach successful teams and learns from them; he gives us plenty of practice material, some of which is his original creation; he helps me teach the material on the tests; he is willing to take us to competitions and give us experience; and several other important functions. If you can get a good, dedicated coach, you’re in good business.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Also, some kids have been doing UIL and other math competitions since middle school. They obviously have a great advantage over those that don’t. However, this is not necessary. I, for one, and I think everyone on my math teams this year, all six, didn’t do UIL (and if they did, they were not good or dedicated at all.) I have some friends that did, but they don’t do it in high school really anymore. If you haven’t, then don’t feel like it’s impossible to get good. I became good with Number Sense being my first math competition, at a school where our previous NS scores would now be considered a joke by our current team.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Dedicated team members. This one can be very difficult. I really got lucky at my school with a couple kids who are very dedicated and good, with many other supporting students. It’s hard to get people to join and become serious when you didn’t have prior success. One girl sticks out to me greatly, from last year. She joined our Calculator club maybe in January or so, did pretty well for a beginner, and we started to give her practice material. We began talking and I helped her get good, and she became really good! She was very dedicated, and helped get our team to State last year. She went from not doing Calculator to getting 13th at State in maybe 5 months, and this is 5A we’re talking about here. If you’re wondering, she’s at MIT this year. She’s that kind of person. This recruiting is up to you to do, and if you succeed, you can build a strong team at your school.</p></li>
<li><p>A leader or leaders. This would be me at my school. If you can set an example and show others that there is a path to success, they will be more willing to follow you.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I feel like my post is becoming too lengthy, but I hope that helps. After people helped me get to where I am, I feel like there are kids out there who would appreciate the same, so I enjoy helping people start good math/science programs and succeed, as corny as that might sound when you read this.</p>
<p>So… I tend to write long posts. I feel weird because other people seldom do that like I do. Also, does anyone here like chess?</p>
<p>@run116 My little brother loves chess! I actually have never played it though. It seems pretty interesting, but I guess I’ve just never had the time. </p>
<p>Out of pure curiosity, does anyone like the Big Bang Theory?</p>
<p>@Run Very thorough explanation, completely agree with the need for dedicated people since there is such a little amount of individuals willing to dedicate themselves to anything. Also, I love your addition to Rivs jokes. I really like chess, but I suck horribly at it, a middle schooler can beat me lol.</p>
<p>@Nashia I love the Big Bang Theory but never have time to watch it. My friends often relate me to the characters, specially rash because my skin color is similar and I have an accent (although it’s hispanic, sometimes people think it’s Indian).</p>
<p>@Ozzy Yeah. I have the same problem. I LOVE that show! Unfortunately, because of the lack of time I have, I usually just watch what I can online. </p>
<p>And I pictured you in my head differently. I know it’s kind of weird, but I have pictured everyone a certain way in my head. Sort of like reading a book.</p>