Mathleticism and life equations

I was initially not a proud mathlete in high school. My friend Katie and I competed purely for the extra-credit as we reminded ourselves. I was embarrassed the first time that I caught myself high-fiving a teammate.

But somewhere during an awards ceremony (I was never a medal-winner) I had a revelation: I'm having fun. And mathleticism is really not much nerdier than National Honor Society, first-chair alto saxophone, and cross country (all three in a prominent place on my resume). In other words, I was already standing at the bottom of a slippery slope of cool v. uncool.

Thus I entered one of the final phases of adolescence -- the reaction to many years of trying too hard, wearing Davidoff Cool Water and white eyeliner -- no longer agonizing over fitting in.

Because of its place in my personal development, math meets will always have a soft spot in my heart. Segue to: these funny, life equations at New Math by Craig Damrauer.