For their weekly meeting on Dec. 14, Math and Science Club (MSC) hosted their first integration bee for members. In an integration bee, two competitors are given a certain amount of time to solve integrals, and whoever solves them correctly the quickest moves on to the next round.

According to Director of Operations and junior Brandon Guo, the integration bee was inspired by MIT, which hosts the same kind of competition for their students.

“We thought that would be a pretty cool idea to do with our club, but obviously on an easier scale,” Guo said. “There’s a sense of fame with the MIT integration bee and everyone likes MIT.”

Since the bee took place in a high school setting but was modeled after a competition using higher level calculus problems, the club needed to come up with simpler problems for competitors. Even then, some competitors were not prepared.

“There are certain occasions where [someone] who hasn’t taken calculus before comes to the integration bee, and I think this is one of the problems with the competition,” Guo said. “They just stand up there not really knowing what to do.”

One reason for having the bee came from the curriculum that the Calculus BC classes at MVHS have just completed. This, as well as its closeness to finals, proved to be good timing.

“In Calc BC classes right now, everybody just finished up integration, so a lot of people are able to participate if they want to,” sophomore Parth Asawa said. “It’s also great review for finals.”

The officers were able to achieve their goal of creating a fun activity for members, as participants of the bee had positive experiences.

“It has helped me by giving me something enjoyable to do with other people who are also passionate about mathematics,” sophomore Saadiq Shaikh said. “I like the competitive nature, but the relaxed environment. It’s a very good juxtaposition.”