MOP 2010

Hello. I know this is quite a late post, but I've been busy this summer: as a result of missing school from USAICO and MOP, I've had to complete a lot of work left over from the school year. Also, I just got back from a beach trip to North Carolina, which had to be ended early because of hurricane Earl.

MOP was quite an experience for me, even though it was my second time through. It was completely different this year: being in black MOP, there was much more pressure on me. Even before MOP, I could tell that it would be difficult for me when I struggled to complete my assigned shortlist. My goal at that point was not to get demoted from black MOP.

As a result, when I took the TST, I was especially calm, which was very helpful. I solved five problems, and I was sure to have achieved my goal. Then, Calvin gave me some information which was quite surprising: "Five problems is close to making IMO." Then, Carl told me that he thought that he and I were IMO alternates. So maybe I had a chance of being on the IMO team!

Right before the IMO team was announced, I was completely unable to concentrate on anything. Maybe, I thought, Carl's calculations were wrong and I was actually a 2010 IMO team member. I simply could not wait for the results to be announced. It didn't help that Zuming decided to announce the team members in decreasing order of their TST score, either.

As it turned out, I didn't make the IMO team. I suspect that I was an IMO team alternate, but the alternates were not announced. Still, I'm surprised that I was even able to do that well. This year, I wasn't even expecting to come close to even being a USAMO winner.

Also, I would like to give my (late) congratulations to all the IMO team members, who achieved third place at Kazakhstan this year!