Stara Zagora is the sixth biggest city in Bulgaria with population of about 215 000. The city is well known for its rich history, famous poets, beautiful sites, and brewery. Something else, however, also contributes to the popularity of Stara Zagora around the world. It is the Foreign Language High School "Romain Rolland". I have been a student at this school since 1997 and I have got to know plenty of people here, both students and teachers. All of the teachers at "Romain Rolland" are good professionals who do their best in the teaching process. Let’s take my math teacher, Mr Lubenov, for example. Not only does he manages to do his job at school with excellence but he also publishes various books and a newspaper on the subject of mathematics – "Maths Post". Besides, Mr Lubenov organizes a number of annual math competitions. I have been interested in mathematics from very early age and I take great pleasure in solving problems. Therefore, I hardly hesitate to participate in math competitions. So, having Mr Lubenov as my math teacher is real fortune for me.

On the 5th November 2000 the eighth annual math competition commemorating the leaders of the Bulgarian National Revival was going to start in a minute and students of all ages (from 2nd to 11th grade) were getting a bit nervous. I was going to take part too, as Mr Lubenov had invited me to participate.

For the first time this competition was held in 1993 and nearly a thousand students from all over the country took part. Gradually the competition has become extremely popular and more and more pupils rush to Stara Zagora every November in order to take part. Eventually the competition crossed the borders of Bulgaria and it is now an international event. This fact made participating even more exciting for me as I had the opportunity to compete with my foreign peers.

Boris Harizanov

The problems in the competition generally cover the material taught at school but you will need something more than cramming the textbook. The problems are devised in such a way that they examine your creativity, logic and analytical thinking. Some of the former winners at this competition have had great further success. Two students, for instance, placed first at it, later became Olympic champions in mathematics and spread the fame of Bulgaria all around the world.

After an hour or so the competition was over. I thought I did well and expected to be placed in the top. Yet, I was surprised to learn that I was first. Overwhelmed with satisfaction I look forward to meeting new challanges at the next competition…

You can visit the "Mathematical Post" Web Site at www.mpost.dir.bg (only in Bulgarian) or learn more about another international math competition ("Drujba") at www.free.top.bg/drujba.

Do you think that participating in math (or physics, literature, etc.) competitions is in fact a waste of time?

© 2001 Freeway
Writers: Boris Harizanov (bigegghead@hotmail.com).
HTML by: Ola Byström (te03-48@park.se).