There was an explosive piece of news this term! The grade 10 and 11 Canadian Secondary Wenzhou No.22 School (CSW) BCOS students were going to have an academic contest which everybody had been looking forward to. It was called the Waterloo Math Contest. The majority of students in our school sign up for this contest every year to show their logic skills and mathematical thinking.
Truthfully, we had heard about it before we came to CSW, but as we were busy with other things and the math contest was kept hidden in the back of our minds until the announcement for signups in late January. As I handed in the permission form, my mind flashed back to August when our math teacher, Mr. O’ Ryan said it was an authoritative math competition recognized all over the world. When I took the practice test for the first time, there were some proper nouns that confused me a lot. I couldn’t understand the instructions at all; plus, I was not familiar with the Canadian mathematics system. I just got a passing grade. At that time, I was upset and disappointed. I believed I couldn’t adapt to this math system, and sometimes I even asked myself “Why can’t I?”
After memorizing most of the vocabulary that appeared in the test, I became more familiar with those words. Since then, I entered a better state of mind and dealt with complicated math problems just like killing bosses in video games. Through my teachers’ help and self-study, I built my confidence again and became much more confident.
Although I am always pleased to accept challenges, I still doubted myself sometimes. As the day of the contest approached, I felt nervous and uncertain about whether I could do my best. When I was anxious, I would take plenty of practice tests to relieve my stress. My worries would lessen, because I gradually understood the questions on them much more easily.
As the competition got closer and closer our homeroom teacher emphasized the importance of the test again and again. My classmates and I were really starting to get nervous. I remember how we devoted ourselves to studying at that time. We always asked teachers and friends for extra help. Sometimes, we could not even understand the answer keys which were given. Before this period of preparation for the exam I had not seen such effort from us before!
When the day finally came, many of our classmates came to the classroom 20 minutes early for the final review. Although I saw some of them with dark circles and drowsy eyes, they were still energetic and hopeful for the upcoming contest. We all had different opinions after writing the test. However, I believe that through this experience, we gained a better understanding of the Canadian education system and concepts. In addition, we have found our true studying spirit, and became more united in this struggle. As a member of this class, regardless of the results, I am proud of all the work each of us put into achieving our goals.