The Oahu Math League is an organization that plans a series of math “meets” where high school students from all over Oahu represent their school and compete against other participants from other high schools. Each high school sends 10 varsity representatives, along with an optional 10 more for junior varsity. The meets consist of six events, each of a different mathematics topic. Each participant will compete in three events. In each event, participants are given 10 minutes to solve three problems of increasing difficulty. Points are given solely to correctness, and points are tallied up by events. At the end of the math season, high schools earn awards based on overall performance throughout each math meet.
During my junior and senior year of high school, I was elected to be President of my high school’s math team. This meant that it was my responsibility to manage funds, organize meets at my high school, plan meetings and study sessions, and assign events to the team members. I had to get very familiar with the team members in order to eye out which fields of mathematics are they stronger in, but also make executive decisions if there were too many good in one field or weak in another. During my time as President of the club, I hosted two sessions every week for 49 weeks, teaching a field of mathematics on some days and proctoring a “mock meet” on other days. I was able to lead my team to a “most improved junior varsity” award during my first year and a “most improved varsity” award during my second year, raising my high school from a typical 8th place finish to a 4th place finish.
My time in this leadership position has given me the confidence to take initiative. I used to be the type of person to tag along in an adventure or just go with the flow. Being put in an executive position has enabled my ability to make choices on my own behalf, whether that be with or without the help on an external aid. It taught me that not every choice I make is going to be perfect (which could be seen by how well the team members performed), but that is part of the learning process. The position has also taught me how to manage a group or team. Accommodating everyone’s needs is almost always never going to happen, so being able to come up with a compromise is as essential skill to have. Some people may be uncooperative during a group environment, but finding a work-around to keep the group on track is much more productive than seeing a group member as a liability.
You can learn more at the Oahu Math League Website.