By Danielle Smith
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After weeks of study sessions and practice problems, MHS’ Math Club faced off against 13 high schools, where they competed in six different categories in their second competition of the year. The varsity team placed in tenth, while JV scored in fourth, a product of their hard work, dedication and determination as a team.
“We always try our best when we go to the meets, so there are never any regrets, no matter what the score is,” President Senior Micah Talamoa said. “We all support each other here and do our parts in the meet. We all have a common goal of just trying to do good at the math team meet.”
Even though it was their second competition of the year, students remained apprehensive before the meet. “I felt pretty confident for two of my three events, but not the last one because two days before the meet, three people couldn’t make it, so my last event was changed and I had to learn the event within two days,” said Talamoa.
But they managed to push against their nerves with the help of their teammates and their club adviser, Carolyn Okunaga. “All I’d have to say is for them to try their best because even though we are competing against other schools, it’s just to do math and have fun,” said Junior Taylor-Anne Kim, a new member to Math Club. “Sometimes when you look at the other schools you get intimidated, but then you remember that they’re just people too. And I know some people from other schools so I said hi. So it wasn’t extremely scary.”
In addition to their hours of studying for the competition, Okunaga and the math team have one goal in mind. “I want for them to learn and refine their mathematics so that they can be better students in their math courses,” said Okunaga. Talamoa added, “I just want everyone to gain more knowledge in math and figure out ways to make math easier and to really just love math in general.”
No matter the results, there is always more the team can do to prepare, no matter how difficult it may seem. “I think they need to put more time into studying. But they’re all busy you know. They all have their own extracurricular activities and their own courses that they take and that they need to deal with too,” Okunaga said.
The math team will continue to study vigorously for the next meet, which will be held at Kaiser High School on Nov. 22 in hopes that they will place higher than the last meet.
