Until TAMT, I had never truly felt that I was part of a team. I have been on teams, but none of them really brought me passion the way TAMT does. It just feels so great to be in the same room with dozens of other brilliant classmates, working together to solve problems. The room is constantly filled with chatter, for we are always sharing insights into the problems before us. Being stuck on problems is no longer depressing because someone always brings me a new approach to solve them. Even if the problem is nearly impossible to solve, our coach, Mr. Voci, always comes up with a brilliant solution and amazes us all.
As the Tabor Academy Math Team, we constantly participate in various math meets and competitions including Math Madness, AMC, and WPI Math Meet. Since I am not very athletic, being part of the TAMT is the best way I can represent Tabor Academy and compete against other schools. This year, we got fourth place out of more than eighty schools in the WPI Math Meet. With practice, we will reach perfection eventually.
TAMT is especially important to me because it teaches me how to be a good leader. Being the team captain, I still have a lot to learn. Competing as a team is completely different than competing individually. I am not on my own anymore. I have teammates I can depend on. I need to know who is good at what types of problems, so that I can divide up the work and make the team more efficient. After the competitions, I need to either cheer up my teammates (in case we have lost) or stop them from goofing around too much (in case we won).
In all, TAMT brings me the passion and the joy of being part of a team, and I really cherish the time spent with my teammates and Mr. Voci.
Siyuan “Daniel” Chen ’21 earned second place among about 340 competitors in the individual competition at the WPI Math Meet on October 16, 2018 and a $2,000 scholarship should he decide to attend WPI. Three other mathletes (Tianni “Emma” Wang ’19, Zi Nean Teoh ’20 and Kihoon “Brian” Nam ’20) won $750 scholarships for their efforts with the same terms. The Tabor Math Team as a whole won 4th overall in this competition.
Daniel also won a Certificate of Distinction and First Place at Tabor in the MAA AMC American Mathematics Competition 10; he was just a half point short of qualifying for the American Math Olympiad team! His teammates Kihoon "Brian" Nam ’20 and MinGyu Jung ’19 also won Certificates of Distinction, meaning they placed in the top 2.5% of finishers in the nation. Their placement allows all three to compete in the American Invitational Mathematics Examination.
We are so proud of our students and their dedication to the Tabor Academy Math Team.
