Most people after seeing   would immediately run away. For Edward Li ‘26, this is a way of life. Li has been active in the math world since elementary, both competing in math competitions and doing math research. 

This summer, Li attended the Mathematical Olympiad Program (MOP) at Carnegie Mellon along with 60 of the top high schoolers in the nation. MOP is an extremely competitive program that one can qualify for only after taking several rounds of increasingly difficult qualifying examinations. 

Along with half the day spent taking classes, which Li describes as “mostly just review”, the camp also consists of taking many exams to select which six students represent the USA in the International Math Olympiad (IMO).  

“You have three weeks, and basically half the time you spend doing math and the other half you spend just like screwing around, because I think the United States IMO training camp is significantly more relaxed than most other countries.” 

Despite attending an olympiad camp, Li was also participating in another research program. Recruitment and Mentoring in Mathematics Program (RAMMP) is a group undergraduate research program in New York, with guidance from mentors, one of whom was a professor at the University of Iowa. “Since I was doing the other program at the same time, I was spending half my free time doing work there and half my free time screwing around.” 

To Li, the difference between them was stark: “At MOP you think you can do anything, and then you go to New York and bash your head against a wall for three weeks.” Despite the frustrations and difficulties, Li still found it a valuable experience, “It was a good perspective shift. It showed me that to do things you really have to collaborate.” 

In the future, Li still intends to try to qualify for Team USA next summer. However, he also wants to use high school to explore a larger range of options, “I’m definitely pivoting at least somewhat to higher math… in a perfect world I’d be doing pure math research.”