knowing of Huo’s immense math knowledge, she encouraged him to create the test. Huo was hesitant at the idea, but believed he was capable, so over Christmas break he started the process.

     “I used a good amount of Christmas break creating the test… I spent about an hour per question,” Huo said. “It was not fun, but it was a good experience.”

     Huo had to keep the test a secret from students, as he had no knowledge of who would participate in the competition, so he ended up coming up with every single question and assuring they were doable on his own.

     “There were different forms, there were algebra questions, probability, geometry… and a lot of different subfields of math,” Huo said.

     Although the creation of the test was very time consuming, Huo understands the benefit and admits there were positives in it for him as well.

     “I did enjoy writing the questions, but it took a really long time, …a lot of effort and I missed [out] on some of my break because of it,” Huo said.

     Not only is math Huo’s favorite subject in school, it has also been his best subject since he was young. He may only be in his second year at Rose, but there are no more available math classes on campus for Huo to take.

     Huo is currently in Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics and last year, as a freshman he completed AP Calculus BC, a class that most advanced math students do not take until their junior or senior years of high school. He believes his success has stemmed from lots of self studying along with paying attention in class.

     Beyond the classroom, Hou uses his skills in mathematics for the Pitt Pirates Robotics team as an engineer and driver. Each year the team creates a robot from scratch that competes in the First Robotics Competition at the regional, state and international levels. 

     “I use them [math skills] a lot at robotics because you have to know certain physical concepts that require a lot of formulas, thinking and problem solving and I find my math to be very useful in that,” Huo said.

     Right now Huo has aspirations to go to college to study engineering while completing an advanced master's degree, but first he wants to become more well-rounded by focusing on subjects outside of math.

     “I already learned a lot in math and I feel like I should focus on my other subjects more because it’s good to have a strong comprehensive knowledge of all the fields,” Huo said.

     Huo is also very strong in science subjects, including chemistry and physics. As he is such an intelligent student, he understands teachers and students may treat him differently, but he appreciates when he is treated like every other student.

     Who knows where Huo will end up, but there’s a probable chance that he’ll be very successful in a field that he cares about. He feels it is important that students do what they want to do and strive for their goals.

     “All the stuff I have learned is because of my own determination and passion, I don’t really let other people try to influence me in what I want to do,” Huo said. “I do all the extracurriculars I do because I want to do them, not because somebody else wanted me to.”