I am happy that my Calculus teacher ‘forced’ us to take the Euclid. For those who don’t know, this is basically the hardest high school math test around. around 13-14 thousand people take it each year and almost half of them fail it. Keep in mind that this is voluntary participation for the most part, and mostly pretty bright kids. The thing is only 10 questions long but you get 3 hours to do it, I think I could have used a lot more time, seeing I didn’t even get around to questions 9 or 10. My whole class has been despairing about this for the last few weeks, and begging for it not to count for marks (we got a compromise, it’ll be marked on the curve.) This exam even has the audacity to make you feel like a fool after you’re through and the answers have come out, as the answers aren’t particularly hard to get, it’s just hard to find the way to get them (talk about ‘doh’ moments). I’m estimating I got somewhere in the 57-63% range, and will be happy with that if I’m correct. Anyways, I’m glad for this challenge, I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have to, but after today’s psychology class focused on praise, effort, and achievement I’m especially appreciative of being pushed out of my intellectual comfort zone, so to speak.

Update (May 28. 2010): I got 66%! Highest in my class, and perhaps even my school district!