The Mu Alpha Theta Honors Society celebrated its first year as an official club on February 4.
The club decided to mark this milestone by sponsoring a new math competition to kick off its second year, despite past struggles.
The club’s president, Ryan Li, has been with the society for a substantial period, from October 2022 to the 2026 Match the Graph Competition.
Ryan reflected on the major struggles the club faced during his time in leadership and how he helped the group move forward through this ‘test’.
“We faced everything from leadership conflicts and administrative pushback to a lack of funding and failed early events, but we overcame those hurdles by being relentlessly resourceful—whether that meant cold-emailing 90% of the faculty to find advisors, raising over $1,700 through summer tutoring and initiatives, or completely rebranding our reputation through high-profile national competitions and more engaging, unique campus events.”
He also shared his hopes for the club’s future.
“As I graduate, I hope to transition the club to a dedicated math faculty advisor and a new team of officers who will protect our unique culture—balancing serious academic ambition with the creative, humorous spirit that made us successful—ensuring they stay bold enough to pitch ‘stupid ideas’ and committed enough to keep the organization thriving rather than letting it fade back into inactivity.”
Looking back, the club hosted several notable events, including the Pi Day Competition—where the winner recited over 400 digits of Pi—and various math tests, such as the CCP Math League, Gaokao, and the AMC 10/12A. They also held the Pizza Palooza, co-hosted by the Italian Club, fostering a fun environment beyond standard math activities.
On February 13, during Unit Lunch in Room 2011, the Mu Alpha Theta club held the 2026 Fermi & Numerical Estimation Competition. In this event, students competed individually to solve complex numerical estimations and real-world Fermi problems. Participants had to solve for “weird” mathematical expressions without a calculator, while the Fermi portion allowed for calculators to tackle large-scale approximations based on reasonable assumptions. Points were awarded to the student with the closest estimate for each problem, with time limits ranging from 15 seconds to 2 minutes per question.
At every Mu Alpha Theta competition, medals or certificates are awarded to the top three finishers, and honorable mentions are given out to everyone else who participated. There is always a variety of refreshments available during the events, including donuts, chips, cookies, and soda.
The winners of the 2026 Fermi & Numerical Estimation Competition were:
- Suyash Gupta
- Ayaan Hossain
- Rohit Sudhakaran
Mu Alpha Theta regularly hosts competitions and fun activities for BRHS students. If you want to join, be sure to sign up through their Google Classroom.
