As many of you have probably heard by now, I did not make the IMO team. Although I was definitely sad for the hours after the TST and perhaps for a few days after that, I am not bitter about it. After all, I'm in no position to say that I deserve a spot any more than the six who got it.
There's something about contests that I've known for a while, but TST brought it up again. Contests aren't for deciding the best, as much as people would like to think that. No, the person who wins the USAMO is not necessarily the best mathematician, nor is the person who wins ARML, nor is the person who wins HMMT, nor the winner of any other competition. Math contests don't crown the best mathematician. They crown the winner.
Sure, a trip to Kazakhstan would have been great. Winning certainly does come with perks. But when it comes down to it, I know that the fact that I lost on the TST just means that I'm not on the IMO team. It doesn't mean I'm worse at math.
Look forward to a more complete post on MOP soon.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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Losing on the TST does mean, however, that you are worse at geometry ;)
ReplyDelete^ Geometry's the least useful standard contest topic, though!
ReplyDeleteAlso it's lame because I'm terrible at it
Mm, well said.
ReplyDelete