This question asks exactly what I wanted to talk about regarding the team, and what people may not realize reading this article.
This may sound like a stretch, but the Buchholz math team and Mr Frazer are probably the single biggest life-changing factor in my life so far, and in a lot of my teammates' as well. The effect that Frazer's culture puts on his students over their (potentially) 7-year career with him through middle and high school just dominos throughout college and your career. The team shaped who I am, where I went to school, and what I studied greatly, which I am so unbelievably thankful for (which I will get into at the end).
Most of the smartest people I know are friends I made on the team. To put it simply, these kids are so driven that being able to pursue a talent outside of the math team is certainly feasible. Now, almost everyone on the math team is taking the hardest classes they can at the school, a lot of which doing so with almost perfect GPAs. But the math team is very time consuming, and I think a lot of the team members share the ideology that there isn't a more valuable talent to expand upon in high school than math.
I was unfortunately only on the team for 2 short years, because I moved to a different state (and the year we lost both state and nationals is the year I went to both competitions, unfortunate correlation). As smart as the kids are on the team, Frazer's game plan is so well made at this point, it teaches you how to win. This means success is more correlated to hard work than intelligence in most cases.
My biggest regret about being the team is not working harder. I really feel like I was lazy and didn't take it as seriously as I should have, but looking back I don't think it affected my trajectory much. Fortunately, after I moved I tried to keep the Frazer culture with me, made friends with the smartest people at my new school, and I matured and worked harder. Absolutely none of which would have happened without the math team.
I am now doing computer science at a top 10 school and interning at a large tech company this summer. I am extremely thankful for where I am, much of which I attribute to Mr. Frazer. Plenty other students have far more inspiring stories than I have, come from lower socioeconomic statuses than I come from, or ended up in a better school than where I ended up. Thanks for letting me write that.
This may sound like a stretch, but the Buchholz math team and Mr Frazer are probably the single biggest life-changing factor in my life so far, and in a lot of my teammates' as well. The effect that Frazer's culture puts on his students over their (potentially) 7-year career with him through middle and high school just dominos throughout college and your career. The team shaped who I am, where I went to school, and what I studied greatly, which I am so unbelievably thankful for (which I will get into at the end).
Most of the smartest people I know are friends I made on the team. To put it simply, these kids are so driven that being able to pursue a talent outside of the math team is certainly feasible. Now, almost everyone on the math team is taking the hardest classes they can at the school, a lot of which doing so with almost perfect GPAs. But the math team is very time consuming, and I think a lot of the team members share the ideology that there isn't a more valuable talent to expand upon in high school than math.
I was unfortunately only on the team for 2 short years, because I moved to a different state (and the year we lost both state and nationals is the year I went to both competitions, unfortunate correlation). As smart as the kids are on the team, Frazer's game plan is so well made at this point, it teaches you how to win. This means success is more correlated to hard work than intelligence in most cases.
My biggest regret about being the team is not working harder. I really feel like I was lazy and didn't take it as seriously as I should have, but looking back I don't think it affected my trajectory much. Fortunately, after I moved I tried to keep the Frazer culture with me, made friends with the smartest people at my new school, and I matured and worked harder. Absolutely none of which would have happened without the math team.
I am now doing computer science at a top 10 school and interning at a large tech company this summer. I am extremely thankful for where I am, much of which I attribute to Mr. Frazer. Plenty other students have far more inspiring stories than I have, come from lower socioeconomic statuses than I come from, or ended up in a better school than where I ended up. Thanks for letting me write that.