The BAMO
By Kieran Callahan
As I walk out of my bedroom on a hot sunny Sunday morning, my parents greet me at the door. I ask them, “What is it?”
My mom says, “There is a math competition at school and we want you to compete.”
“But I don’t want to.” I groan, my stomach turning sour.
“It's not a choice” she counters
“Okay fine.” I groan, “but I haven’t studied for it, I don’t even know what it’s on.”
“Exactly” my Dad puts in. "They have practice tests online and we want you to do it today.”
I was starting to get pretty nervous because I had never taken a math competition before, and certainly not anything with any prizes, but I also felt that maybe this could be an opportunity for something great.
I took my ADHD medication, and then I started the test. At first I was confused, but my Dad pointed out my mistake and from there it was a lot easier, before I knew it I was done.
“Yes!” I cry happily “Did I do it in time?”
“Yup” my Dad confirms “I told you you could do it!”
By now I was feeling a lot better about competing, but I was still a little nervous about it. After my dad graded it, I was really feeling confident to take the test since I got a perfect score on the practice test. Before I knew it, the day was over, and I was getting ready to go to school. I said to Mom “I’m starting to feel a little worried”
“It’ll be fine” she said “It doesn’t matter what you score”
That really helped since I knew that my parents weren't going to get mad if I scored badly. When I got to school my friends all said that they were doing it too so that made me feel better.
After block one I proceed to Empathy, where I take my seat next to my friend. I felt the cool wind blow on to my face from the door next to me as Eben handed me my upside down papers along with a pencil and a black sheet of paper. As I turned over the sheet of problems my stomach turned sour, it looked so much harder than the practice test. By the time I finished the second problem, I was feeling better but, the chatter coming from recess was really distracting, and it took me until the end of block four when I finished the third problem. The next two problems were easier, and I was able to finish them in time to go to PE where my friends greeted me.
Three weeks later, I had almost forgotten about the test and I still hadn’t gotten my result yet when I found a package labeled for me on my front door. In it lies a BAMO shirt and a letter. It says:
Congratulations Kieran Callahan.
Placement: 6th (5th grade through 8th grade)
Placement: 1st (5th grade through 6th)
Score: 30 Point
Award 60$ Bookstore gift card (I forgot what book store it was)
This is probably the biggest math achievement I have ever made in my life. I was completely blown away that I had placed so highly and I am greatly honored. This meant a lot to me because I have always wanted to become a mathematician and now I believe that I really can become one. I have yet to use the gift card though I still wear the shirt to this day.
