Many students at Highland Park High School take advanced math. However, there is an even more select amount of students that are two or more years ahead of their peers. HPHS Media sat down and talked to some of these students to find out why they take these rigorous classes.

“I feel like this year has been a lot more difficult to get the same grades,” junior Brian Huang said.

Math for most students is already their most challenging course. Normally, it takes hours to study and succeed for most anyone. This work is done out of necessity. The course load requires thoughtful devotion to the classes. These hours are achieved through dedication and hard work toward the goal of wrapping up high school credits in order to graduate. Some of these students go past that and get their college credits out of the way, however a more select group does it out of passion.

“I have to start putting more time into it, but it’s not like I’m not enjoying putting time into it, because it’s definitely something I love doing,” junior Richard Luo said. “And math is one of the very few things when I do it, I want to keep doing it.”

Some students put a high emphasis on math, just as others may writing or art. In Luo’s day, if he has free time, it’s math time. This passion has lead him to take math courses at SMU, where he is currently learning about differential equations. The course structure there is much different than high school, with quizzes after each lecture. Luo doesn’t believe there is natural ability in the field of advanced mathematics; it’s just work ethic. Therefore, only the most committed succeed.

“Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s easy, it really just depends on what we’re learning that day,” freshman Jason Yuan said.

Taking Calculus AB (a Senior Course) should be hard for a freshman, however Yuan is unfazed. So far the class is studying derivatives, which feeds into multivariable and later differential equations,which are featured in the class Luo is taking. Diligence is the key to success in these classes because of their advanced nature. Math is a way of life for advanced students, a mode of thought and a medium of exchanging ideas. Really everything still comes down to one thing and one thing and one thing only: the drive to succeed.

“Well mathematics is my passion, so I really wanted to do this,” Luo said.