Reflections on Math Club G11 First Semester Activities

In this academic year summary, I want to reflect on the key activities of the Modeling Department and share my thoughts and plans for the future as the department head.

At the start of 11th grade, we were preparing for the modeling competition. I’m grateful to Mr. Liang for giving me the opportunity to be the main speaker in several modeling workshops. Since I mostly worked independently before and didn’t have much experience presenting in large group settings, I was quite nervous while preparing. Fortunately, my classmates responded warmly, and the teacher provided me with enough support and space to confidently share and answer questions. I believe that organizing such large-scale events is an excellent way to kick off a school year for a club. First, it helps students prepare for competitions; second, it allows new club leaders to experience organizing events and gain valuable experience; and third, it gets club members engaged and strengthens their sense of participation. I’ve saved a lot of resources and slides from these modeling workshops, and I’ve uploaded them to my GitHub. I hope that this activity can continue next semester.

After the modeling events, we did experience a bit of a gap in activities. Many students stopped coming to the club after the competition. I understand that not everyone who attended the workshops is aiming for a math-focused future. Mathematical modeling, after all, is an inclusive field that uses specialized knowledge to solve real-world problems. People interested in economics, physics, biology, and more can find a place in it. This diversity can make organizing activities challenging, but I see it as an opportunity. I realized that focusing solely on the mathematical aspect of modeling might not fully utilize the strengths of our club. If we approach modeling from various academic disciplines—starting with the background of each subject and then developing the relevant mathematical models—it might appeal to a wider audience.

With this idea in mind, the first thing I did was collaborate with the Economics Club to hold a joint presentation. We based it on the Vickery auction, holding a small auction event to introduce game theory and explain how Vickery auctions achieve Pareto optimality. While some thought the event was a bit too academic, I see it as a good opportunity to think about the role of mathematics across different subjects. In later activities, I also combined my interest in computational neuroscience for a few talks. My motivation for this comes from my curiosity in AI and some personal opportunities in the era of artificial intelligence. I was first exposed to machine learning through mathematical modeling, which led me to study AI technologies like computer vision and large language models. Beyond learning the technical aspects, I often wonder “why?” I found that explanations of the “rationale” behind these concepts are often missing from popular tutorials and textbooks. As a high school student with curiosity but limited math and science background, I need simple and clear explanations to become knowledgeable in AI. In my later talks, I started from neurobiology and then discussed probability and statistical models in computational neuroscience. I think this natural blend could inspire future topics on the intersection of math and AI.

Finally, I want to mention some regrets from this year. Due to my personality, I may not be as skilled in recruiting and attracting people to our events, which is why our Math Club hasn’t had much presence on big school stages. Besides my somewhat introverted personality, I think finding ways to make math more approachable is something that needs thoughtful consideration. Throughout my school life, whether with classmates, homeroom teachers, or college counselors, I’ve often enthusiastically shared my favorite topics, only to find that no one really understood. I think this year was a good start for the Math Club, bringing in new ideas and fresh perspectives. I hope that future club leaders can build on this foundation, address some of these challenges, and bring new energy to the club!