# Thank you, Brilliant

My enrollment in Brilliant was March 3rd, 2015, which means it has been EXACTLY one year since I have discovered this wonderful place, where I find friends from all around the world who love math and keep on improving myself and chasing my dreams. In addition to this special event, I have just won the Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) High School Math Competition 1st place on February 26th, which is another thing that brilliant would account for. Therefore, I guess it really is time for me to write a tribute to brilliant and you all:D

I started off my journey in brilliant.org as an 8th grader who was a "know-it-all" student in Honors Algebra I. Of course, comparing to most of you, I had very little knowledge of math; however, my passion is in math and I would love to learn more. Ever since then, I have been practicing almost every single day on Brilliant.org until about May, when the summer holiday starts. After I start my 9th grade year, to maintain a solid GPA, I didn't go on Brilliant too often, which was an action now I kind of regrets.

On January 1st of 2016, a random idea came to my mind: in the year 2016, I will do at least one math question every day and copy it down (and/or its solution, depending on my attempt) in a notebook. I thought about Brilliant first simply because it is a great source of math problems of all kind. I also set up plans of topics to learn about in appropriate difficulty for myself. After I started the project, though, I felt the necessity to work out a few more questions than one. I work on one subtopic each day, and it takes 45 minutes on average for me to finish my project.

At first, I couldn't even believe that this project lived for a week. Then I was in doubt of my capability of time management and ability of "actually doing the math". But I didn't give up; I believed that this completely self-disciplinary project will ultimately do me some good.

It turns out to be a HUGE success. In the past 2 months, I learned and mastered about two thirds of the contents in a precalculus textbook, and I successfully taught myself derivatives, differentiation and integrals using my ONLY source, brilliant.org. During this process, I learned to correctly format math and to edit wikis. In the statewide AISA math competition, I was one of the few freshman participants, if there were any but myself, and my school's team as a whole preformed extremely well. I finished with a 41/50 score, while there were less than 5 participants scoring 40 or above. I have never been through any math trainings, and without Brilliant, I would probably lose another 20 points on the examination.

As I feel proud for myself for committing to math, I sense that Brilliant would be the key component to my mathematic achievements and the fun I had while learning math. Practicing and publishing problems really made me think in mathematics, and I have truly found joy learning from others. I know it would still be a long way for me to understand all of the topics in brilliant and in mathematics, but I will always keep trying

From my heart, I thank you all for providing educational and/or entertaining problems, and I wish more people would know about "the beauty of math" and Brilliant. Please disregard my problems in English grammar, and most importantly, hope everyone have fun in this website!

Note by Margaret Zheng
3 years, 7 months ago

This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.

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Wow! Congratulations @Margaret Zheng for your Brilliant Anniversary and to win the AISA Maths Competition. It's an amusing moment to know about your journey and ultimately excellence in Maths. But the journey has just started, you have to go miles and miles more. All the best!

Thanks for sharing this. :)

- 3 years, 7 months ago

Thank you very much for reading this note! I know that comparing to some of the members of Brilliant, my math skills are not nearly enough; but I will always commit to it.:)

- 3 years, 7 months ago

Competing with the self is the best and the hardest competition and the self commitment is the most promising way to settle this down. Now YOU have won the competition with YOURSELF. And that's the most valuable win. :)

Keep it up!

- 3 years, 7 months ago

I will!:D

- 3 years, 7 months ago

Congratulations!

- 3 years, 7 months ago

Thanks:D

- 3 years, 7 months ago

Congo Margaret Zheng!

- 3 years, 5 months ago

How did you become a STAFF?

- 1 year, 8 months ago