By Linda Song
Gargoyle assistant editor
Posted Sunday, July 9, 2006, The OG, features

On Monday, April 24, sophomore Alex Zhai arrived at the American Mathematics Competitions' Web site and made his way to the list of scores for the United States of America Math Olympiad.

It was there that he received the news that he was ranked second in the nation.

USAMO is a six-problem, two-day exam that only 431 students nationwide were invited to take, based on their exceptional scores on a previous test, the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. Placing among the top 12 USAMO students put Zhai one step away from qualifying for a spot on America's team in the International Mathematical Olympiad, often referred to as the world's toughest math competition.

The final hurdle was another six-problem, two-day exam, this time administered in early June at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Zhai cleared that obstacle and is now in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he will spend the next week as one of six members of the American IMO team. (Click here for more background on the IMO, which involves almost 500 students from 90 countries.)

This accomplishment was not simply the result of Zhai's natural mathematical gifts, although he certainly possesses those in abundance.

Rather, Zhai's success in qualifying for the IMO was a product of natural talent plus intensive preparation.

In the summer of 2005, for about three weeks, Zhai attended the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program at the University of Nebraska. MOSP is only offered to a select group of high school students who have performed well in the series of national competitions sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. (Last year 56 students attended.) The purpose is to nurture young talent and prepare students for possible participation in the IMO — if not later that summer, then in subsequent years.

While at MOSP, Zhai attended lectures two times a day that covered topics not usually found in the standard high school curriculum. Zhai also had the chance to practice on Olympiad-style tests.

But even though he was at a math camp, he did have fun outside the classroom.

“We played ultimate Frisbee, mafia, card games, and chess,” he lists quickly. It was there that he also met a couple of new friends with whom he still keeps in touch.

In the months and weeks before the 2006 USAMO, which was given in April, Zhai readied himself further by testing himself with an online problem-solving program offered free to all who attended the MOSP.

Zhai was no novice at taking the USAMO. He took it during his subfreshman and freshman years, but he didn't place high enough to qualify for the IMO team. (Just being invited to take the USAMO at such a young age was a great accomplishment in itself, of course.)

Now, as his third USAMO loomed, Zhai wasn't stressing.

“I knew I had a good chance at doing well, so I had a little pressure there. However, overall I didn't stress about it too much and decided just to do my best,” he says. “I tended to put other things on the ‘back burner' so to speak during the two testing days, but I think I was pretty calm.”

Four and a half hours each day on April 18 and 19. That's how long Zhai spent on the USAMO.

On Sunday, April 23, he received a call notifying him that he finished in the top 12 and that he had a score of 41 out of 42. The next day during school, Zhai checked the AMC Web site and discovered that he was ranked second in the nation. The first-place winner, Brian Lawrence of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Springs, Md., was the only person to have a perfect score.

“It was quite unexpected, but I knew that I would have a pretty high score and would likely get into the top 12 at least,” comments Zhai. “I think that the summer camp gave me valuable experience. I also took the test more seriously this year because, based on my experiences at the camp, I knew I had a good chance of doing well.”

Zhai didn't bask long in his second-place finish. He continued to prepare himself for that final hurdle, the Team Selection Test, given during the 2006 MOSP at the University of Nebraska. Since then, he and his IMO teammates have focused on the Slovenia event. The IMO exam itself will be given Wednesday and Thursday, with awards presented at the closing ceremony on July 17.

Spending so much time doing math-related activities is nothing new for Zhai.

“It's not really a hobby, but yeah, it's an activity that I enjoy,” he shrugs. “It's kind of like how reading is for some people.”

What is new is the attention that he'll receive due to the IMO. The Gargoyle has run multiple stories about him during the past three years, including a full-page profile when he was just a subbie and a mini-profile this March after he placed third in the state on second board at the IHSA chess tournament. But now The News-Gazette is planning to run a major story about him, and no doubt more coverage will follow, local and beyond.

So, Alex Zhai … math prodigy, or just someone who has a genuine interest in the subject and wishes to pursue it further?

“Prodigy is definitely the word for him,” says executive math teacher Craig Russell. “He can easily see the relationship between things, which is a rare thing. But I think he's interested as well.”

How far will this combination of ability and interest take Zhai? We'll get a glimpse this week.