The 2012 AISA, Association of International Schools in Asia, Math Mania Competition took place in Osaka, Japan. AISA is an association that currently consists of four international schools: Korea International School, Senri/Osaka International School, Seoul International School, and Yokohama International School. Fortunately, this year, Korea International School won the AISA Math Mania Competition, placing first place for both individual and championship.
The competition taking place on February 4th, the representatives of Seoul International School, Korea International School, and Yokohama International School gathered in Senri-Osaka International School.
The KIS team comprised of Peter Park (11), Eunice Choi (11), Andrew Aujin Kim (12), and Dean Lee (12) formed a fantastic combination by working together and demonstrating their different strengths in different areas. Guided by Stacy Fitzgerald, the coach for this math competition club, the team put their maximum effort for all the stages of the competition and allowed them to grab the championship.
Peter Park, a junior who won the individual AISA Math Mania First place, explained how he prepared for his competition. He stated, “I usually review my notes, textbooks, etc. from previous classes, like Geometry and Pre-Calculus, and solve practice problems.”
In school, the Math Competition Club meets once a week and the several supervisors for this club chose the four best members who proudly represented Korea International School in Japan. The team members and the individual winner were confident and gave their best effort that led to their victory of this competition.
The competition not only consists of expanding their knowledge about mathematics, many students are able to socialize and make new friends who are heading towards similar universities and colleges. Not only learning from socializing, but the members were able to gain life lessons that can be applied to any other subjects.
“I learned that math is a battle against the self,” Peter Park said. “After sufficient preparation, if you believe in yourself and say “I’m going to do fine, let’s do this,” you’re confident enough to try every method in your arsenal and rive your solution its finish without distractions. My teammates and I believed in ourselves and in each other, and although we weren’t sure that we would win, we were confident that we gave it our best effort. Thinking positively and having confidence in ourselves allowed us to achieve good results. Our team persevered until the end and refused to give anything less than our best. ”
The award received from this competition will be displayed proudly in the KIS lobby. There are more AISA Math Mania Competitions to come that may take place in Yokohama, Japan or in Seoul, Korea.
