at UCLA tonight, and he’s invited one of our exceptionally gifted math students to attend.
Who’s Ashley Ellis?”
Everyone stared at Jessica. Even with her plummeting grades, they still believed she was just playing around, that she could easily
reclaim her top spot if she tried. Everyone had
witnessed Jessica’s freakish memory. She’d
once memorized an entire biology textbook in a
day, down to the page and paragraph of every
fact. A human photocopier. Jessica lowered her
head, playing coy, further confirming their
assumptions.
11:02
The guys behind me snickered. “If I were
Ashley, with a sister like Jessica, I’d just die.
She’s ugly and stupid. Makes her sister look even better. What’s the point of even living?” “Right? And she’s still arguing about that
question. What if… she’s the one who’s
wrong?”
84)
I slammed my hand on the desk and stood up. Mr. Lee frowned. “Didn’t I just tell you to sit
down?”
“I’m Ashley Ellis.”
The class erupted in laughter. “When Jessica
was getting number one, it was effortless!
She’d crush the competition without even
trying. That’s math talent. Ashley’s just grinding
through practice problems. How dare she try to
impress a UCLA professor?” “My ‘dumb people
allergy‘ is acting up.”
But then, Professor Chen walked over and put a
<
11:02
(84)
hand on my shoulder. “Ashley, I have a math.
lecture at UCLA tonight. I need you to share
your insights on Szemerédi’s theorem with my
undergraduate students. Don’t forget.”
Mr. Lee and Mr. Jones gasped. “Szemerédi’s
theorem? You? A high school student?”
Professor Chen smacked Mr. Lee’s head.
“That’s right! A high school student.
understands something my graduate students.
struggled with for three years! You should be
ashamed.”
Mr. Lee turned red, speechless. The laughter
died down. They might not know what
Szemerédi’s theorem was, but they understood
it was a big deal.
As the girls in class stared, Alex brought a desk
over and sat next to me. He whispered, “Don’t
listen to them. I’ve met plenty of smart people,
but consistent passion and hard work are far
<
more valuable.
I nodded. He got it. Jessica had talent, but no
drive. What was the point of acing tests if you
weren’t pushing boundaries? I wanted to
innovate, to break new ground, to represent the
US on the world stage of mathematics.
My grades climbed steadily in subsequent tests,
from 30th to 10th to 1st. And they stayed there.
At first, some kids accused me of cheating. But
after consistently topping the class, the rumors
faded. Jessica’s rank continued its downward
spiral, from 400 to 600 to the bottom 1000. It
only took a year. I replaced Jessica as
Southwood’s top Harvard hopeful. She became
the poster child for Mr. Jones’s anti–dating
lectures.
But Szemerédi’s theorem… no matter how
much I studied, how many hours I poured into it,
I couldn’t crack that final step. Professor Chen
remained supportive. “Ashley, you’ve done
incredibly well for a high schooler A
<
incredibly well for a high schooler. A
mathematician’s prime is usually in their
twenties. Focus on the SATs for now.”
