Aaron Hammer ’24 was the top finisher of the New England Math League, Algebra 1 division! Congratulations Aaron! The competitions problems and answers are online right here. [Just the problems can be viewed here.]
“Life is messy. Numbers are neat. Or so I’ve liked to think. Math has been a comfort zone in times of confusion, a way to pick out signals in the noise, see patterns in chaos. At the least, it could provide a sense of boundaries, scaffolding, a handhold. With a little help from math, we can begin to grasp even concepts we’ll never really grok.”
The answers for the 3rd round of problems of the week are now online! What cool problems! The 4th round of problems will be sent out soon!
No, this name 100% is not a complete ripoff of Whistler Mountain’s mountain bike film-related contest. I swear. Besides, it’s not plagiarism if you cite your sources.
Aight. Down to business before Mr. Johnson brings the hammer down on me. Quarantine times are… interesting, to say the least. I’d be flat out wrong if I was to say this time is how I thought we’d be spending T3, and I do miss school, but there are some silver linings. For one, I don’t have to wake up at 6:30 AM every day to make the pilgrimage out to school every day, although some would argue that the trip from bed to one’s surface trying to catch a 10 AM class is equally arduous. I also can’t claim that international/west coast students haven’t been absolutely hammered by that as well, which is unfortunate. Maybe more of an aluminum lining. Or a lead one.
Along with the online classes, helped out by the lack of sports and time with friends, is a dumb amount of free time. Funny thing about free time, it’s good at first but it is definitely possible to have too much of it, especially when seeing people is frowned upon. I took to the dirt, taking my bike out to the Batchelor St. Trail network, on the backside of Bare Mtn./The Notch. It’s a beautiful location, with lots of trees, loam, nice flow-filled sections and beautiful singletrack. There’s even a river with fresh, crisp alpine water (And lemme tell ya, there’s nothing better than dunking your head in cold water 3/4 of the way through a ride)!
Pictured: A sick lake and a murderous hardtail!
The way I see mountain biking, there’s three main types of challenges on the trail: physical, mental, and technical. Physical challenges are pretty self-explanatory, namely fighting gravity as you fight your way back up the hill. Technical challenges are the skill based sections, whether that be rock gardens, rock slab climbs, or bunny hopping logs. They’re the sections that send you tumbling down hills at low speed or make you smash the stem when you mess up, the ones that give you battle scars to flex to the hordes of nobody who asked.
Pictured: Technical climb, way above my pay grade.
And then there’s the mental challenges. Mountain biking is just as much a mental game as a physical one, building your nerves to hit an obstacle that you know you can clear, but looks intimidating (gap jumps, I’m looking at you! Also, the GoPro effect is 100% real), and it’s arguably the hardest area of skill to improve in.
Pictured: The Chicken Line
Pictured: The A-Line
Whoever said chicken didn’t taste great, eh? Besides, sends are relative.
The above feature is a 3.5′ tall rollable rock drop with two line choices. The line on the left (also rider’s left) is the chicken line (or the hardtail line, if you want to keep to your friends), involving a much shallower angle to drop in on. The line on the right is the A-line, involving an additional 6″ and a much steeper angle (more in the realm of 75 degrees from horizontal). After many attempts, I finally cleared the A-line, giving me enough speed to send me over the top of the small berm and down into the brush, but it didn’t matter: the stoke was real!
Mountain biking is satisfying not just for the places that you go to, but the struggle in getting there. There is no summit at Batchelor St. Trails, but it’s a place where I can go on the daily, roughing up some loam and inching my way through rock gardens just for the sake of riding. It’s a visceral fun, as is most fun in the woods, whether you’re zooming through the trees (the better of the two zooms) or riding up what is basically a river bed after a rain storm. It’s a beautiful place, it’s freeing, nothing not to love about it!
“Hey, this post is too long!”
– Everyone, probably
Aye, fair enough. I guess the moral of the story is to get out in the woods if ya can, over this quarantine. See what nature has to offer, it’s 100% worth your while.
As soon as I heard I would have to stay home for a long time, I ordered a 80 pound boxing bag. I had never boxed before in my life, and I had no idea how to.
The first time I used the bag, I just wailed on it, punching it in a random fashion until I was tired. Eventually, through the use of the internet, I was able to make an actual workout routine for myself.
Now, I throw 1700 punches in one session.
I was having a lot of fun, but I didn’t have any goals. I had no fight coming up, I had no sport to look forward to. I decided I would set a goal, and that goal was to be 3000 punches, because 3000 is a very big number.
However, I had limitations.
I couldn’t do the same motion over and over again, so that meant I couldn’t just throw 3000 right straights, or I would get very, very, very sore. I also had mental limitations, so I can’t just stand in place and throw 1500 jabs with each hand or I will get very, very, very bored. And then leave.
So, I had to mix it up. I threw in some of everything and then a little bit more of what I like.
Listening to music also helps make it less monotonous, and also means I don’t have to hear the sounds of the chain creaking or the set up shaking, which both annoy me.
I’m slowly working up my punch count each day, adding anywhere from 20 to 160 punches depending on the day. I usually add punches in this fashion
20 – 80 – 20 – 120 – 160
However, by the end of the school year I’ll be adding them in this fashion 80 – 120 – 160
If I stick to my schedule and plan, and I work out 5 times a week, I’ll get to 3000 punches before I know it.
However, 3000 punches isn’t my last or only goal. Once I get there, I’ll start timing myself, and throwing in pushups and sittups. But for now, I figure I should focus on getting to 3000 punches.
The Algebra 1 round of the New England Math League is now online right here! Anyone is welcome to participate! Send answers to Mr. Seamon by Sunday, 4/26 @ 6pm EST!
[To clarify: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, and j are all single digits. Each digit from 0 to 9 is represented by exactly one letter. The number abcdefghij is a ten-digit number whose first digit is a, second digit is b, and so on. It does not mean that you multiply a x b x c x…]
Yesterday afternoon, after a packed day of online classes, I sprawled on my bed and tried to get some homework done. But staring at the screen of my surface, I recoiled from the blue light attacking my eyeballs. I had been gazing at the light all day, and I now felt a headache creeping on, growing stronger each second I spent trying to focus on my screen. I looked away and pulled out my phone, only to be greeted with an even harsher blast of light. My stomach, unhappy with all the peeps, jellybeans, and chocolate lambs I’d consumed in the past 36 hours, growled at me. In short, I was all-around uncomfortable. I stood up, felt a wave of fatigue, plopped down on my bean bag chair, and proceeded to drift in and out of sleep for about 45 minutes.
Over the course of the last week, I dyed some fabric with Tea from British Breakfast. I didn’t really know what color would the tea be as I bought it online and have never tasted it. Therefore, the first time that I see the color of the tea would be the time when I start dying my fabric. I wanted to dye the color deep enough so that my bright yellow ribbon would have a lighter color than the fabric, so I put all the teabags into the water and put the fabric in.
You can read about the students of the 1st trimester right here.
Remember, the Virtual Math Resource Center is here to help! From Mrs. Hill:
Hi everyone, I hope you’re all staying healthy and happy! Don’t forget, if you have questions about the math assignments you’re working on, there is still lots of help available to you. During this Green week, the virtual MRC will be running at the following times (all EDT):
Monday: F,G,A2,and B
Tuesday: D,E,F2,G,A, and during study hall
Wednesday: C and D periods
Thursday: F,G2,A, and B
Friday: D,E2,F, and G
Just go to this Zoom link, enter password 1841, and help will be waiting!
Looking for additional math tutoring support in Algebra 1 or Algebra II? This just in from Nikhil Sierros:
My name is Nikhil. I am a junior in the Upper School at Williston and I recently started a math tutoring program called ASAP Math Tutoring. The program is intended to provide free math tutoring to algebra students in Williston and the local community who need assistance. In my own math class, I understand that learning can be more challenging without physically being in a classroom environment. Math is a cumulative subject that will carry on throughout our high school years and so, it is very important that we understand our current material in order to be prepared for next year’s math class. If anyone is interested in assistance with Algebra I or II, the link to my website is asapmathtutoring.weebly.com, where you can schedule an appointment time. I look forward to connecting with you!
It is no secret to anyone who has a class with me that I work as a cashier at the Big Y in Northampton. Overall, it’s truly a swell first job. You get to meet lots of kids who go to different schools in the area, get to go behind the scenes and get a different perspective of a place you probably only visit for half an hour weekly, and get some of your own spending cash. Well, while all those things are still true, customers have become un poco loco in the midst of this pandemic!
A reminder from Mrs. Hill about the Math Resource Center!
Jack Berrien answered the most week 1 problems of the week correctly! Congratulations Jack! The problems and solutions for week 1 are 
The week 2 problems of the week are now available
