Senior of the Year: Alan Bu

By LILY RAMPE

Ask anyone, and they will tell you that Alan Bu is an intellectual legend on campus. A senior in Cilley Hall from Albany, New York, Bu is the co-head of the Math, Science, and Chess clubs, an international math competitor and researcher, and a treasured friend on campus.

Bu came to Exeter as a prep. “Just knowing that there were tons of incredible people in all of their individual fields was a big reason why I came to Exeter,” he explained. “Back in Albany, there weren’t too many people interested in STEM and my school didn’t even have a math club.”

“I wanted to do math,” Bu continued. “I had some friends and we used to meet outside of school at a local Chinese school each Sunday. We would have fun doing math together, but it was like we were ants on top of mushrooms in a giant rainforest. There’s so much more to do, but we weren’t really able to. So, by coming to Exeter, I wanted to see and do more of it.” 

In college, Bu hopes to study mathematics. Bu said, “I will probably major in math. But that’s not a statement that will forever be true. I’m also interested in machine learning, and maybe some kind of applied statistics.” 

Pursuing his passion for mathematics, Bu quickly became a co-head of Exeter’s Math Club. “I became a co-head of math club as an upper, one year earlier than normal,” he said. “They used to have this policy where [co-heads] were only seniors, so it was tough because I had only been here for two years and wasn’t completely sure how everything ran.”

But Bu soon settled into the rhythm of being a leader. “You realize that as a co-head of a club, you need to make sure everyone feels like they’re contributing and learning something here,” he reflected. “Now as a senior, I have to figure out club topics with the rest of the co-heads. We make plans and organize competitions.” 

One of Bu’s highlights from his time with the club is the Exeter Math Club Competition that the club hosts for middle schoolers. “Learning the ropes of how that goes has been quite a long journey because, since Covid happened, we hadn’t seen what organizing it in person looked like. We had to go back and ask the older people,” said Bu.

Bu has certainly had an impact on the students around him, especially his mentees in the math club, who describe him as a natural force and leader. Lower Harini Venkatesh said, “I met him on the Exeter Math Club Competition Discord server and wanted to ask a few questions about Exeter. At the time, I was very surprised that he was so willing to respond and answer my questions — he was one of the first people from Exeter that I met, and that was definitely a really good first introduction to the Exeter community. I remember thinking that Alan was super nice and also really good at math, which definitely just made me want to come here even more!” 

Prep Oron Wang, who also met Bu online before coming to Exeter, added, “I admire his leadership the most. A few weeks ago, we had team practices for the HMMT math competition. Whenever we got distracted, he would remind us to stay focused. In the actual contest, our team managed to get third place.” 

“He inspires me mainly as a leader,” Wang continued. “This year he organized a very successful EMCC. I hope that if I ever become a co-head of Math Club that I will be able to organize the contest again just as well as Alan did. He also inspires me in math, and I hope to make the MOP (Mathematical Olympiad Program) summer camp just like he has.” 

Upper Shiqiao Zhang, who followed in Bu’s footsteps as a co-head of Math Club, also admires Bu’s knack for mathematics and leadership skills. “Alan’s mastery of mathematics is orders of magnitude beyond what I can fathom,” Zhang said. “Despite this, he is forever modest and open-minded. An excellent teacher, Alan is always ready to patiently explain things in such a way that the listener can understand.”

Upper Bryan Chen, another current co-head of the Math Club, would use the word “genuine” to describe Bu. “I first met Alan in Math Club meetings, and looked up to him as an intelligent leader,” said Chen. “Last year, I thought he was a senior, but he was only an upper. I first got to know him better when we went to math competitions together. He was the obvious leader, not only because he could lead us intellectually, but also because his genuine kindness and respect led us all to respect him. I didn’t even know at first, but now I know that he is one of the strongest mathematicians in the stated but he does not make that known at all.”

Senior Ishaan Vohra met Bu through participating in similar activities and classes. Vohra said, “I got to know Alan both through sharing a few classes with him, and through competing with him together on Exeter’s Science Bowl team. I quickly came to appreciate his calm, composed, and focused attitude — in an intense competitive environment like Science Bowl, he embodied the ideal qualities of a team leader. It has been a wonderful experience to compete alongside him.”

“Alan has and continues to inspire me to be the best version of myself. The focus he brings to his passions has certainly rubbed off on me as I pursue my interests,” continued Vohra.

Senior Eric Wu also met Bu as a prep through the chess club. “He was actually one of my first out-of-dorm friends. I still remember that first meeting, how we were two of only five or six members,” Wu recalled. “On our way back from the J. Smith tent to our South Side dorms, we had our first real conversation about what we liked and aspired to be. I just remember that he was such a passionate, pleasant, and hopeful guy.”

Wu continued, echoing the same admiration for Bu that others expressed: “Aside from his mathematical prowess, I really look up to Alan’s care for others. As a co-head of chess club, he is always ready to carry any slack, and as a friend, he is always eager to help anyone with any STEM questions. I know that he is someone I can rely on, and every time he helps out he does it with an eager and happy attitude. Being so gifted but also so willing to help says a lot about his humility and values. 

One of Bu’s goals when he came to Exeter was to be selected for the Mathematical Olympiad Program (MOP). “When I came to Exeter, there was a math coach here who was renowned across the country for his work coaching the International Math Olympiad team,” Bu said, referring to former Instructor in Mathematics Zuming Feng. “Before he left, he used to help send about nine to ten Exeter Students to MOP, which is crazy considering that’s about a sixth of the whole program.”

“But that was really incredible,” Bu continued, “and when I came here, I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to have a chance to get into MOP and maybe take a chance at getting into the International Math Olympiad. It wasn’t as I expected because the year I came to Exeter, the coach left the school. I still, however, still got to meet and compete with a lot of the incredible people that were here. That dream is not entirely over yet though. I still have one year left!” 

Wang mentioned Bu’s unique philosophy for math, saying, “I think his philosophy about contest math is very interesting: if you practice it, then the improvements are shown two years later. It sounds really strange and I haven’t heard of anyone else with the same philosophy. But when I compared my own contest performances, I found that it actually held a lot of truth!”

Although math has always been one of Bu’s main interests and has brought him lots of new friendships, he has learned to love all of his academic subjects at Exeter. “During my prep year I hated a lot of my classes. Maybe it’s the Stockholm Effect, but I’m fine with all of them now,” Bu said. “Actually, this year, I would say my favorite subject is biology. I took physics my prep year, so now I am taking biology. It’s cool because I have already learned a lot of things through physics, chemistry and other sciences, but now, in biology, there are a lot of concepts you can understand from a different angle. For example, why do those molecules bond together? Or why does raising your diaphragm change the pressure of the air inside your lungs?”

Vohra expanded about the side of Bu beyond his widely-recognized talent in STEM: “Beyond his mathematical and STEM prowess, Alan also has a unique philosophical side to him – I’ve been fortunate to see it peek out during our conversations every now and then, be it discussing life goals or other abstract questions like whether math really exists in the physical world. Alan really is a deep thinker and a true ponderer, and this goes beyond just math.”

One challenge and frustration Bu has faced at Exeter emerged in his English classes. “I’ve always believed that if somebody tries their hardest in a class, then they should probably get an A,” he confessed. “When I came to Exeter, I got a B in English, but I wasn’t trying my best. The next term I got like a B+ in English, but I wasn’t trying my best either. Then, in my prep spring, I decided I really wanted to do my best in English and get a good grade.”

Bu continued, “If I’m gonna be in a class for 50 minutes a day, then I might as well do my best in that class because otherwise it’s just losing 50 minutes. Through prep spring to lower winter, I kept getting an A-, and it was really frustrating to me. Finally, in lower spring, we had this comic book assignment. I was super determined to do well on that assignment, so I sat down, found a comic book about writing comic books online, and read it. In the end I was really proud of what I made and managed to get an A in that class.” 

Although Bu is an inspiration to so many students at the Academy, his mother is one of the many people who inspires him. “There’s one person I’m really, really grateful for and that’s my mom,” Bu said. “Throughout my time here, I’ve called her a lot. Sometimes I call her for emotional support or sometimes for advice on how to send an email. But I’ve learned a lot of things from her in my four years here.”

“But what I really appreciate about her is that she doesn’t intrude in my life,” Bu continued. “She doesn’t call me to tell me what to do. She only helps when I ask her for advice on something.” 

Exeter has been an eye-opening experience for Bu. “When I first came here, I didn’t dream very big, but I saw and I met a lot of people here who had really big dreams. Their motivation and their want to make those dreams happen, settled in my heart. That’s the reason I like to chase so many things. When I get invested in something, I put in a lot of effort, effort to accomplish it. I know that when I leave here, maybe in struggling toward those things, I might not make all of them come true. But I hope at least during my last term I will accomplish some more of those things and be proud of what I have done.”