On the morning of Nov. 8, the Loyola Math Quiz Club set out for the Harvard Math Competition, one of the most prestigious and competitive opportunities offered for high school math students. Brimming with excitement and anxiety, six club members competed and met a variety of students from all across the country, ranging from 10-year-olds to eighteen-year-olds, as they showcased their skills in mathematical combat.
After spending some of Friday preparing for the tournament by going through practice problems involving number theory, proofs and combinatorics, the team felt ready. Their coach and new Loyola mathematics teacher, Stephanie Dito, reassured the team, saying, “We’re more than prepared. We just need to go out there and give our all.”
On Saturday, the team competed both individually and as a group, with reality setting in due to the difficulty of the infamous questions and the competitive nature of the tournament. They competed in two individual rounds—a general and a theme round—each consisting of ten questions. Following this was a team round, which also had ten questions, and a guts round with twelve sets of three questions.
The team not only got to compete, they were also given the chance to attend various lectures on Sunday, including a talk with Po-Shen Loh, an American mathematician, Carnegie Mellon professor and national coach for the United States’ International Mathematical Olympiad team. Lectures on various math concepts, such as integrals and fast multiplication, were offered as well.
When asked about the results after the trip, Kian Wong ‘27 remarked, “Although we didn’t do as well as we wished, this was a valuable opportunity for us to compete with so many intellectually distinguished students across the country.” Team captain Ethan Lee ‘25, agreeing with Wong, admitted, “Our performance wasn’t the best, but this just shows how hard we will have to work together in the coming months for future competitions.”
From this trip, the team has learned many valuable lessons while making meaningful memories ranging from team bonding to learning and delving deeper into the world of math. They are looking forward to the future, where they will continue to participate in more tournaments and—hopefully—place highly as well.
