Mu Alpha Theta
Ok, last night, we started the first Mu Alpha Theta (national math organization) competition with a ciphering round, where you are given 12 questions in a row, and you have 3 minutes for each, getting 12 points for getting it right in the first minute, 8 for the second, and 4 for the last. I got the first two questions in the first minute, giving me 24 points, and then ended up totalling 44 (a mere 20 points in the last 10 questions, and out of 144 total possible). I was really disappointed, but when I had heard how some other people did, I felt a little better... at least everybody had done poorly. I had said to multiple people that night that "if I placed, that would be really sad."
Then today we had the last two parts of the competition, the individual (30 multiple-choice questions in one hour worth 120 total possible) and the team round. I scored a 53 on the individual, which is really low for me but also in general. We did well on the team round, and expected to get first on that.
When it got to the calculus awards, I wasn't completely surprised to go up for the individual, but when they said that the 15th-placed person had a 37, I was a bit surprised, thinking it wouldn't take long to get to 53. But after the first five places, it was only like 40 or so... Then after the next five places, it was at 49... and then at 4th place, it was me with 53. I was pretty damn happy.
Then came the team round, and we got first as we expected (and by a fair margin, at that!).
Last came the ciphering round awards. I expected to place badly, but at least to place something. And I was right, I was called up to the stage. Then they started with the 15th place person... who got a 12. 15th-~10th all got 12's. Then the next couple places got 16's. By 5th place, it was in the 30's. I was still in there! The fourth place person got like a 36... Third place person got a 40... It was down to me and another guy I knew. I told him "Damn, you got it." And then the 2nd place score was called-- 44. And then they called his name! I had won by tiebreaker (starting from question 1, the first person to miss a question loses)! I put my hands over my face and I couldn't believe it! That was the first time I had ever won 1st on anything in Mu Alpha Theta! I think I'm still in shock, to be honest!
Then I get home and hear Zell's news, and I'm really happy for him, and now I'm going to go play some more MapleStory!
Then today we had the last two parts of the competition, the individual (30 multiple-choice questions in one hour worth 120 total possible) and the team round. I scored a 53 on the individual, which is really low for me but also in general. We did well on the team round, and expected to get first on that.
When it got to the calculus awards, I wasn't completely surprised to go up for the individual, but when they said that the 15th-placed person had a 37, I was a bit surprised, thinking it wouldn't take long to get to 53. But after the first five places, it was only like 40 or so... Then after the next five places, it was at 49... and then at 4th place, it was me with 53. I was pretty damn happy.
Then came the team round, and we got first as we expected (and by a fair margin, at that!).
Last came the ciphering round awards. I expected to place badly, but at least to place something. And I was right, I was called up to the stage. Then they started with the 15th place person... who got a 12. 15th-~10th all got 12's. Then the next couple places got 16's. By 5th place, it was in the 30's. I was still in there! The fourth place person got like a 36... Third place person got a 40... It was down to me and another guy I knew. I told him "Damn, you got it." And then the 2nd place score was called-- 44. And then they called his name! I had won by tiebreaker (starting from question 1, the first person to miss a question loses)! I put my hands over my face and I couldn't believe it! That was the first time I had ever won 1st on anything in Mu Alpha Theta! I think I'm still in shock, to be honest!
Then I get home and hear Zell's news, and I'm really happy for him, and now I'm going to go play some more MapleStory!