The awards ceremnoy of the county round of the Zrínyi mathematics competition took place last Saturday (7th March) at the Town Hall in Kaposvár.
More than a hundred students from all over Somogy were invited, including me and two of my classmates. Our school performed very well, as we won three out of four individual competitons, all four team competitions we contested, and on top of that, Táncsics was even awarded a trophy for being the best grammar school in the region. After these ‘official’ prizes came the special prizes offered by local dignitaries (the mayor, politicians, headmasters, sponsors, etc.). I won one of these, as the deputy mayor of Kaposvár presented me with a gift bag for having been invited to the ceremony every year since I was in third grade. I opened the bag to find some books and a pen with my own name engraved in it! After that, a reception followed, with biscuits and soft drinks, where I exchanged a few words with some teachers from my old school.
The ten editions of the competition I took part in, as well as the ceremonies, have lots of stories for me. I can still remember being there for the first few times, counting how many times I got to shake hands with our mayor, but ultimately I lost count of them. In 3rd grade I came in second in a four-way dead heat, something I haven’t seen anywhere ever since. I advanced into the national final, where I finished fifth. And in 8th grade, I was running back and forth between the town hall and my current school, as the awards ceremony and the oral application exams were held the same day, so I had to talk about maths with a silver medal I had just won in my neck.
All in all, the competitions in all these years meant a lot for me. And considering the stories I experienced, the books, medals and gifts (including the personalized pen) I won, I believe all the effort I had put into competing in the past 10 years was really worth it.
Richárd Palkó, Kaposvár 2.