The numbers aligned for a group of Miami Dade College (MDC) students recently. Members of the Math Club from Kendall and North campuses grabbed five out of seven places in the 2013 Math Olympics competition in Jacksonville.
North Campus’ mathematics major Yang Li defeated his opponents to clinch first place in the individual competition. Having completed the majority of his studies in China, Li’s first step when he arrived in Miami was to continue his passion for mathematics and enroll at MDC.
During his first semester, he joined the Math Club. A year later, he served as its president. But Li isn’t all left-brained. His passion for music began when he was 9. He plays the piano and competed in national and Chinese talent competitions. He plans to return to his native China to work as an engineer or professor after graduating.
Li and his teammates, Stanely Dor, Alberto Gutierrez, Octavio Del Sol, and Rene Villareal, battled other students, earning second place, in the team challenge.
Kudos are in order for the Kendall Campus Math Club, too. Steven Rivadeneira walked away with second place in the individual competition, while Nicolas Luca earned praise for his fourthplace standing. Rivadeneira and Luca were joined by Hau Lian and Wenkui Ren, and took third place in the team competitions.
Students representing other MDC campuses also were part of the Math Olympics. MDC has a history of high finishes at local, state, and national competitions.
