It adds up to success

8th-grade math whiz on to a national MathCounts competition.

By: Josh Appelbaum
   A Cranbury School eighth-grader will be one of four students to represent the state in a nationwide math competition in May.
   Patrick Chen, who placed third in the New Jersey MathCounts competition on March 19, is studying to compete in the Detroit competition, to be held May 5 through May 8.
   Cranbury School competed at the state level on March 19. Each year, the top four individual competitors are selected to represent New Jersey as a team.
   MathCounts is a national enrichment program that promotes middle school math achievement through grassroots involvement in every state in the United States, according to its Web site. Students solve oral and written math problems individually and compete as a team in the Countdown round, a game-show style buzzer-based competition.
   Alice Z. Doehner, the coach of the first place team from Community Middle School in Plainsboro, will work with Patrick and mathletes Jason Ho of Central Middle School in Parsippany, Ian Osborn of Park Ridge Middle School and Yim Daesun from Community to bring the championship to the Garden State.
   For Patrick, the MathCounts competitions have grown in personal importance from when he started competing for Cranbury School last year. He credits his parents, Sean and Julia Chen, for motivating him to succeed.
   "I’m happy that they pushed me to work hard and do well," Patrick said. "When I started competing I kind of just wanted to lounge around."
   He said since he placed high at the state competition, coach and Cranbury School math teacher Daphna Langballe and teammates have been supportive of his run at the national competition.
   "Mrs. Langballe took a lot of time to get this together and organize it," Patrick said. "I received lots of congratulations from her and from my teammates."
   Although Patrick said the state competition will be difficult, he isn’t letting the pressure get to him.
   "I’m really excited, but I’m not really nervous," Patrick said. "I know I’ll do my best, even if I don’t win."
   Patrick, who will attend Princeton High School next year, has interests aside from math. He is on the school tennis team, likes computer science and is thinking about some math-related professions, including engineering.
   He said math is something that has always has come easy to him.
   "It’s pretty cool to understand the concepts," Patrick said. "It’s fun, too."
   Patrick is looking forward to traveling to Detroit, but said the competition brings with it some added pressure.
   "I have lot of school work and the competition stuff is pretty difficult," Patrick said. "Sometimes I feel like I’m overloaded."
   Nevertheless, Patrick is happy to be able to travel to Detroit and work with his fellow MathCounts participants.
   "It’s pretty awesome," Patrick said. "I’ll get to stay at the Marriott all weekend and see the city."