IMO DAY ONE
Apologies for the lack of updates - it's been super busy and my mind has been with the students or marking entirely.
Let's talk about Day One.
Everyone deals with pre- game jitters differently. Some students prefer peace and quiet. Some of them want to ask questions about different scenarios on the exam. Some students pace, some of them sit quietly out of the way. Some people might be surprised to know the leaders are nervous too - I feel like a caged lion waiting for the kids to get out of the exam room. At ARML it's easier - since I'm in the marking room and it happens as real-time as possible, I get to see the results as they roll in. But at the IMO, we can only wait.
A few of the students seemed to be coming down with colds. One of our students actually had to leave the exam early with a nosebleed and a slight fever. Thankfully there is a doctor on-site - he really just needs rest (he is now feeling much better). The others took some Tylenol cold and sinus, and into the exam they went.
Close to the end of the exam, the paper becomes available for the leaders to access. We had it for about 5 mins before the students came running to find us. Day One was a disappointment - everyone was feeling discouraged coming out of the exam. Everyone did question 1, two students said they solved question 2, and no progress on question 3. At this point in the game post exam, it appears that problem 3 had the lowest scores in IMO history. We debriefed with the students on the problems - there's a lot of running around trying to find out how other countries did, what are the rumours, and laughing at the comments people post on places like Art of Problem Solving. Wild, rampant speculation. There seems to be a bit of the AoPS syndrome - someone early posts "this seems hard!", someone else says "oh no this is so trivial, it's the easiest in IMO history!", then people post again saying "Wow you are right this is easy!!". Ah...the Internet. Who doesn't love it.
Soon it was time to shake it off, have some fun, get some rest, and repeat the next day.
Day two to follow.
Let's talk about Day One.
Everyone deals with pre- game jitters differently. Some students prefer peace and quiet. Some of them want to ask questions about different scenarios on the exam. Some students pace, some of them sit quietly out of the way. Some people might be surprised to know the leaders are nervous too - I feel like a caged lion waiting for the kids to get out of the exam room. At ARML it's easier - since I'm in the marking room and it happens as real-time as possible, I get to see the results as they roll in. But at the IMO, we can only wait.
A few of the students seemed to be coming down with colds. One of our students actually had to leave the exam early with a nosebleed and a slight fever. Thankfully there is a doctor on-site - he really just needs rest (he is now feeling much better). The others took some Tylenol cold and sinus, and into the exam they went.
Close to the end of the exam, the paper becomes available for the leaders to access. We had it for about 5 mins before the students came running to find us. Day One was a disappointment - everyone was feeling discouraged coming out of the exam. Everyone did question 1, two students said they solved question 2, and no progress on question 3. At this point in the game post exam, it appears that problem 3 had the lowest scores in IMO history. We debriefed with the students on the problems - there's a lot of running around trying to find out how other countries did, what are the rumours, and laughing at the comments people post on places like Art of Problem Solving. Wild, rampant speculation. There seems to be a bit of the AoPS syndrome - someone early posts "this seems hard!", someone else says "oh no this is so trivial, it's the easiest in IMO history!", then people post again saying "Wow you are right this is easy!!". Ah...the Internet. Who doesn't love it.
Soon it was time to shake it off, have some fun, get some rest, and repeat the next day.
Day two to follow.
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