UKMT Junior, and Mathletics

I've done a little more on Mathletics; I've completed the 'probability without replacement' task, and got full marks on it, which only leaves 14 gold bars, and I only need to do the test on the probability unit to finish it and so have nine complete modules!

The UKMT Junior Maths Challenge was held today. Obviously, I'm too old to participate this year, but I did participate in 2009, back when I was in year 7. I tried really hard at it, and then totally forgot about it, until a few weeks later at assembly, when a teacher announced some of us had certificates to collect. I was literally praying, until he announced the first name, and I knew I was going to get one because I was as good as the boy whose name was called first. There was a long list, but eventually it was confirmed: I had a silver certificate (no one got a gold in my year group). I was thrilled in a way I'd never been before. It's so weird to think about now. I think if I'd got silver in the Intermediate this year, I'd have been a little disappointed.

I wanted to participate in 2010, but I went away on a Residential, so I wasn't able to. I'd already signed up for it long before I knew about the challenge; if I had known about it, I wouldn't have gone. I sometimes think that would be a massive blessing, for reasons unrelated to my maths career, but mathematically, all that would have happened is I would've got a gold - I might have qualified for the Olympiad, but I wouldn't have got anywhere with that, because I still can't answer the questions now - 2 years later!