Club Spotlight: Math Club and Recent EMCC
By ERIN HAN and JOSEPH KIM
It is 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday, but a steady bustle of voices sounds from the basement of the Academy Building. These are members of the Math Club settling into their seats as their weekly meeting commences. Meeting agendas vary from week to week, and range from lectures given by co-heads and faculty on mathematical phenomena and competition strategies, to days dedicated to training for upcoming competitions.
Faculty adviser and Instructor in Mathematics Jarad Schofer described the typical Math Club day. “[We meet early in the] morning, but often get 25 to 30 kids showing up. Once we all break for lunch, I see that they all go to lunch together, hang out, and it facilitates a very social [environment] where they all seem to be friends with each other,”
Upper and co-head Bryan Chen explained, “Some meetings are more energetic than others, but I think some meetings where the whole thing of the meeting is a competition or a really interesting lecture.”
So why are the members so engaged in the club? “In Math Club, people are very passionate about math,” lower Ronald Qiao said. “It’s just everyone’s pushing each other to get better.” The club members also do other activities that make the club experience more lively.
EMCC Test Takers
Upper Andrew Carratu said, “The lectures we have every week or the handouts that we work so hard as coheads to make, just passing down the [important] knowledge. Without this passing down of knowledge, the club would be dead.”
Math Club is also a place of many bonding memories. Qiao recalled, “One of the most interesting Math Club or memorable Math Club experiences was when [a co-head] was giving a presentation about the zeros of potent matrices, which is something, I have no idea what it is, but I think he just gave such a good overview of these things that really showed me the ability of the people in the Math Club and the sort of things we’re able to learn.”
When asked about memorable Math Club moments, Chen said, “I remember Mr. Ibbotson giving a talk on Fibonacci numbers — and how they are connected to some other things — and I was just blown away.”
Regarding a club trip to Princeton University, lower Benny Wang recalled, “It was really fun to get on a bus with teammates at the math competition.”
Recently, one of the club’s biggest focuses has been the Exeter Math Club Competition (EMCC), the annual competition geared towards middle schoolers, that is organized and hosted entirely by the club. It was held this year on Saturday, Jan. 27, and attracted over 29 teams from local schools.
Senior and co-head Alan Bu, who served as one of the leaders in the team’s preparations, shared the different layers of the organization process. “It goes all year round in terms of planning, but most of the problem-writing and brainstorming happens during fall term when the entire Math Club gathers together to write high-quality questions for the middle schoolers coming in January.”
Bu continued, “The bulk of the logistical and printing work happens during January when there’s always an intense rush to get everything done and checked in preparation for test day.”
In preparation, the club split into problem selection and logistics committees. Chen additionally served as one of the co-leaders of the problem selection committee. “In our committee, we selected from the problems that Math Club [members] helped make.”
He reflected on last year’s competition. “What happened last year was that the questions were a bit too hard — it was very clear from the scores and stuff — so our goal this year was to make the problems a little easier. Not too easy of course, but last year I think it was a bit harder just based on the statistics.”
“So we tried to make the prompts a little easier this time,” Chen continued. “Within the rounds themselves, there’s like a whole range of questions, so there’s gonna be easier questions at the beginning, and harder questions at the end. But I do think it’ll be hard for someone to do all the questions correctly.”
Bu reflected on the day of the competition. “This year, the competition went well — pizza, tests, and registration all went to plan. Hundreds of middle schoolers arrived in the Academy Building, proctored by a few dozen hardworking proctors from around the Exeter community, and it ran smoothly.”
The hard work that the team put into organizing the competition this year is reflective of the club’s general spirit of dedication. Schofer recalled, “One day when we had a big snowstorm, and we all woke up Sunday morning seeing 14 inches of snow, I thought, ‘There’s no way we’re having Math Club this morning.’ But sure enough, an email went out saying we were meeting, and [quite a few people] showed up—even some day students. Their dedication is above and beyond.”
Qiao explained, “I think Math Club is a community of people who are very passionate about math. I think it’s that passion as well as the ability of the math kids at Exeter that really makes us stand out a lot.”
When asked about why he joined the club, Qiao answered, “Well, first of all, I enjoy math very much. But second of all, I think it’s also good to be challenged because of Math Club. I think it’s a very challenging environment in the sense that it’s like all the best math students across campus are grouped together in one room. So the topics are difficult and it’s very fast-paced, but you also learn a lot. I think it’s helpful to remind yourself that you can always seek these more knowledgeable guys out for help.”
Instructor in Mathematics and team coach Jeffrey Ibbotson described the growth that he saw in students, over the span of years they dedicated to the club. “In this group, generally speaking, I get to see students all four years,” he said. “So it’s really cool to see them grow and mature. I enjoy seeing them care for one another. They’re not competitively beating each other over the head with their solutions, but rather trying to help the younger students adapt and learn new things together.”
Whether solving difficult problems, creating problems for EMCC, or simply enjoying watching problem explanations on the whiteboard, Math Club is an enjoyable experience. Members express their joy in this commitment they use to practice and further develop their passion.
Upper Anthony Yu shared his hope that, regardless of its rigorous environment, people would not be intimidated by the club. “Math Club is for everyone. I feel like a lot of people in this school don’t try it because they believe that there is a very high bar to entry, but that’s not the case. We want more people to come. We would welcome all levels.”
