“You will have fifteen minutes for each test. There will be four individual tests of four problems each. The first problem is worth one point, the second question is worth two points, and so on. You will then have twenty minutes to complete the team portion of the meet, where there are six questions and each question is worth ten points. Ready? You may begin.” Everyone that participated in the Lakeland University Math Meet heard that this Monday night as they sat two to a table in a room with their team and a few teams from other schools.

On Monday, October 17th, 2016, Lakeland University, formerly known as Lakeland College, hosted their 27th annual math meet. This year, South had great numbers; 62 students came to participate, around double the amount of participants last year.

When asked why they signed up, a lot of people said it was for the extra credit, which makes a lot of sense. Going to the math meet is a very easy way to get extra credit, because it is earned from simply attending it, and not from how well anyone does.

Some people have other reasons for attending.

“I really like the idea of comparing my math ability to those from other schools, and my favorite part is working with others to solve problems,” said Senior Mitchel Larsen. He has been attending the Lakeland University Math Meet for years, and always enjoyed the experience that came with it.

Junior Lilith Riemer claimed,

“My favorite part of the math meet is doing the rounds because I like the idea of challenging my mind. Every year, my main goal is to try to get a better score and meet new people from other schools.” She has been attending the meet all three years of high school, and she explained how the extra credit that came with going was always very rewarding.

Sophomore Kassandra Wiegele’s favorite part of the meet was not even math related.

“My favorite part about the meet was my team. They made me laugh and have a pleasurable time, making jokes and being weird. They made me feel comfortable and joyful.”

“Math is fun, and going to the Lakeland University Math Meet is a great opportunity to do math outside of the classroom setting, and the math done is very different than what you learn in class,” Ms. Gail Boerger explained. From that, Mrs. Sue Klokow chimed in with,

“You get to enjoy an evening with friends in a productive way, and you get extra credit.” They both have very great points; during the school year, a lot of people have a very hard time finding time to spend with their friends because of sports, homework, clubs, or work. By going to the math meet, it is a logical excuse to take off of work, and people going get excused to leave practice early or leave their club early in order to leave on the bus on time. Extra credit is also helpful because with that homework that still needs to be done, there is a little less stress 15 points of extra credit is a lot.

When students talk about challenging their mind, they are not joking. This is one of the problems:

Alex, Barb, and Charlie took a six-question true-false exam. Their answers to the

six questions in order were Alex: FFTTTT; Barb: TFFTTT; and Charlie: TTFFTT.

Alex and Barb each got 5 questions right. How many did Charlie get right?

The correct answer is 3. Some of you may be thinking that this question was not hard, but this was only worth one point. Now, this is a four-point question:

The triangle is an equilateral triangle with sides of length 1. Each of the 3 smaller

circles tangent to the triangle and to the larger circle. The larger circle is also

tangent to each of the sides of the triangle. What is the area of one of the smaller

circles?

The correct answer for this is .03. Not many people can get this one, which is why it is worth four points. Senior Zoe Schrameyer got this question right, and when asked how she got the answer, she said,

“First, you find the area of the large triangle, and you guess from there.” The judge in her room was telling everyone to put their pencils down and Schrameyer did not want an empty space on her paper, so she quickly guessed, and she got the correct answer.

South only had one award-winning student, Senior Rodney Wiegele. He received an honorable mention for getting 17 points out of the possible 40. The highest scoring person got 36 points out of the 40. Wiegele reflected,

“My favorite part of the meet was doing the team sheet and realising that I was the Senior that everyone had to look up to for answers. I felt accomplished, being the only person to get a medal. But I also felt kinda sad that South only had one award winning student. When I was given the problems, I was thinking back on all my previous math classes. I thought about what I knew from each class and how it related to the question I was working on.”

Everyone that was asked if they would recommend others to go to the math meet gave a very blatant “yes.” Many of them elaborated with the idea that the math meet is such a good experience and that it brings people together for a common purpose: math.

Junior Trevor Braatz was disappointed in the past couple years that he could not attend the meet but was excited he could participate this year.

“I had a lot of fun doing the math meet in middle school, and now I get extra credit for going to it. I like having a challenge, and the meet can get pretty competitive, especially since it is different than normal math,” Braatz said.

Participating in the Lakeland University is a great experience, even if the point of it is to try to solve really hard math problems. You get to bond with classmates and friends, and you get to meet new people from other schools while trying to improve or show off your math skills. And at the end, you get a free drink and cookie. Extra credit, fun, friends, and free things; that is a list of very great things that anyone at South can have. Listen for announcements next year to participate in the 28th Lakeland University Math Meet!