While Emporia State University students were going about their regular days, high school students from surrounding towns attended the annual Math Day Competition on Oct. 24. Students in Pre-Calculus, Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus and Algebra II were presented with the opportunity to attend this event, although students who participate in Math Club received priority.

“I went because they needed more people to go and I thought it would be kind of fun to do with some friends and just have a good time,” senior Tristan Meyer said.

Calculus teacher Eunice Nickel said that the point of the tournament was to have fun competing with other schools and determining how scores compared.

“It gives you an idea of where you’re at [academically]. It’s also good for students to be on a college campus and to see some challenging math problems,” Nickel said.

Students had the option of participating in team and or individual events. Meyer took part in the Math Scramble, consisting of a mixture of problems that require skills from algebra, geometry and calculus. The team placed tenth in their division out of 40 teams.

“We thought it would be some pretty easy math, but then we went there and we saw that the math is a lot more than what they just teach in class,” Meyer said.

Senior Amanda Dorrell participated in an individual algebra event and encountered problems with a level of difficulty that she had not yet encountered in her AP Calculus class.

“They [the problems] were a lot harder. It was crazy seeing what they were asking me to do and then knowing that there is so much more after that,” Dorrell said.

In addition to competing in math events, students were allowed to roam the campus during other events. Dorrell said that she, along with a few other students who attended the competition, explored the science hall, museum and even crossed paths with a fraternity hosting a “Pie the Pi’s” celebration.

“It was fun, just the atmosphere was great with everybody there,” Dorrell said. Dorrell was able to partake in the celebration by pieing senior Claire Slechta.

Schools were separated by divisions and results were determined within such groups. Seniors Aspen Olson, Maggie Remsberg, Claire Slechta, sophomore Addison Mininger, and freshman Ember Stuter and Madeline Duncan all placed within the top 50 percent of their division in the events that they partook in.