Published in the February 17 – March 1, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Claire Chiu
Photo courtesy Silicon Valley Flex Academy
Silicon Valley Flex Academy students, from left, Astin LeQuang, Issabella Romo, Neil Shah, Edison Zhang, Claire Huang and Jack Fan.
It was the morning of Feb. 6, 2016. I and my team members from Silicon Flex Academy were at the MathCounts competition. Mrs. Barnes, our MathCounts coach, had prepared us very well.
Every week, myself, Claire Huang, Neil Shah, Edison Zhang, Issabella Romo, Jack Fan and Astin LeQuang completed practice exams and MathCounts training exercises. We also did mock countdown rounds to gain additional practice and experience.
That Feb. 6 morning, all of our hard work and training paid off.
First, we started the sprint round (30 questions in 40 minutes). The target round followed (eight questions in 24 minutes.)The team round was next, where we had 10 questions, which we could discuss the possible solutions among our team.
After we finished the team competition, the top 12 finishers of the individual score advanced to the countdown round, where two individuals would go head-to-head (three questions and 45 seconds for each question) and only the winner would advance to the next round.
I finished the countdown round in fourth place and Neil placed first. It was my first time ever in the countdown round and I was extremely nervous. I was one second late from getting two of the questions. As a result, I finished fourth in the countdown round.
But Neil was in his most excellent form and he won the countdown round.
After the countdown round was completed, it was the time to announce the team results.
We all held our breath and the atmosphere got very exciting. I got so nervous after it was announced that Charter School of Morgan Hill had taken second place. Finally, the moderator announced, “In first place, Silicon Valley Flex Academy!”
We all leaped up and jumped around. I felt like all of our hard work paid off. For the first time in a long time, Silicon Valley Flex was going to state!
Published in the February 17 – March 1, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
