Lakeland’s Mathematics department held an annual mathematical competition called “Integration Bee” on Mar. 24, and three excellent students received prizes.

While it is not a well-known event on campus, a mathematical competition, “Integration Bee” has been held on campus every spring since 2009, except 2020 due to the COVID-19’s pandemic. Christi Chang, a professor of Mathematics, explains about this event that “Our mathematics department has held the Integration Bee event, which is a math contest for all Lakeland students who know how to solve integrals.”

The purpose of “Integration Bee” is to encourage students to review and practice integration problems and also to provide an opportunity for math major/minor students and other students who enjoy solving high-level math problems and love to demonstrate their skills.

“In the contest, contestants will solve the same integral problems on stage. If a contestant misses two problems, this person will be eliminated. The last three contestants will be ranked as the first, second, and third place winners, respectively. For attracting students to participate in the contest, we offered $100 to the first winner, $60 to the second winner, and $40 to the third winner. The amounts of prizes depend on the donations for the event,” Chang explained.

One of the three winners, Zoe Schrameyer, a senior student, described her feeling. “This is my first semester without a math class, and I will not lie I was extremely nervous! I have not done integrations in so long that I mix up a lot of integration and differentiation properties. It is always fun to compete and even just being there with everyone that I have had classes with. Especially during COVID, it was fun to be able to have this event and be with everyone,” Schramever said.

She also encouraged other students to join and expand the math community. “Typically, we ask students to come and watch who are in/ have been in some sort of calculus class because that is where you learn most integrations, but all students are welcome to watch!,” Schrameyer added.

Another winner, Hallie Theune, a junior student, mentioned “I enjoyed competing because I’ve never had a chance to challenge myself in this way and that felt good. I love math and I am passionate about it, so it was nice to participate in a light-hearted competition with my peers. I’m not super competitive but it was definitely cool to prove to myself what I’m capable of.”

The other winner, Kaitlyn Birkholz, a senior student, described her motivation to join this event. “I am a competitive person. Every family game night we try our best not to argue but that’s what happens when you come from a competitive family. As for the integration bee, it’s fun but gets my anxiety level to 100. The only thing that stresses me out is having multiple people watch do a problem and watch every step I take to get to the answer is kind of nerve-wracking,” Birkholz said.