by: Arnold Lindross Lau - Grade 7, Xavier School

Three years have I participated in the Mathematics' Trainers Guild, Philippines. Three long years have I undergone math training and competition. Half of my school year Saturdays and six weeks of my summer vacation have been dedicated to the pursuit of mathematics knowledge. And all this time, I've always found myself asking one question: WHY?

The inquiry I've had to field most from others is the typical, "Why waste your summer vacation on MTG? You're studying hard, six days a week, precious vacation time wasted frittering away with equations and diagrams instead of taking the opportunity to relax for two months before the school year." Personally, I hate it when people ask me that. You see, everytime I hear this, I'm reminded of a love-hate relationship with the MTG. I "hate" it because of its long hours, demanding schedule, and its assumption that all high school students, EVEN students who are just in transition between elementary and high school, know trigonometry and the like. Wait, we're in MTG to learn, right? Problem is, you can't learn something about, say, trigonometry if you don't know the basic concepts of trigonometry. Which makes the current year's Summer Training a lot harder than usual.

But I also "love" it. I love it because of I get to know other people from other schools (yech, that sounded like a brochure). But it's interesting to meet people from all over the country, and even from other countries in the case of international competitions. In fact, a kind of MTG folklore exists detailing all the behind-the-scenes MTG stuff that you'll never see in pictures. But thanks to a certain resident MTG (and non-MTG) folklore expert (hint: he says "th" instead of "s") it may just be revealed... except for the possibility of offending quite a lot of people.

But I especially love it because of the experience, the challenge and thrill of conquering a math problem. "What thrill?" you might say. "It's just boring math problems." That is what people who have been studying curriculum-based math say. All they do is listen to someone droning in front of a blackboard (or whiteboard in some cases) and then answer exercises. Exercises are boring. They follow the same formula, but just with slight variations on each. But essentially, you're doing the same thing over and over again. It's probably essential to learn a concept, but I wouldn't give a second look at my math book if I wanted to get some enjoyment out of math. That's where MTG comes in. Instead of giving you an exercise, it gives you a problem. One that doesn't have an immediate solution, and may often require thought, theorizing/hypothezing, math concepts that seem unrelated, and sometimes even a bit of trial-and-error (affectionally called the TAE method). What you get in MTG everyday sums up what MTG kids sport on their shirts (only one of many): Think Outside The Box. Or cube. Sphere? Whatever.

So WHY do I stay in MTG? See the above. No, it's not because my parents say so, or because I want to get trophies. It's the experience. If that sounds fuzzy, trust me, you have to see it to believe it. To be perfectly honest, I'd rather stay home and play video games than go to MTG. But where does the former get me? At most, to the bathroom. But MTG takes me places. Not just to foreign countries, but MTG takes me to the boundaries of my imagination... and crosses them.

Besides, I still have around two weeks of vacation after MTG. :) So... yeah.


Arnold is a member of this year's MTG Delegation to International Mathematics Competitions for the Secondary Level. Last year, while in the primary level, he competed in the 2004 China National Primary Mathematics Olympiad where he bagged 3rd Honor awards in both Calculation Skills and Problem Solving.