A person takes a risk when they enter a contest. They never know what the outcome is going to be.
That is how Lauren Park, a 17-year-old MVHS student felt when she entered the Breakthrough Junior Challenge back in April. The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is an annual contest that spans the world, challenging teens to create a two-minute video of either life sciences, physics or mathematics topics. According to the website, there were over 2,300 applicants with only 16 people in the final round. Some of the finalists this year live in countries such as the Philippines, Singapore and the Czech Republic.
Park said the contest is a way to practice communicating to a wider audience about one’s interests. Park chose Gödel’s First Incompleteness Theorem, a mathematical theorem that shows that there will always be true statements that cannot be proven. Park learned about the theorem through a summer math program the previous year with Dr. Rick Sommer and became curious about the intersection of math with philosophy.
“I started digging into Gödel’s Theorem on my own,” Park said. “I read some books and some articles and, initially the proof was pretty difficult, but it was really fascinating me, and it eventually clicked.”
Park said she found the contest through an email from Khan Academy back in April and began putting more time into the contest following her AP tests. Park said she felt prepared when it came time to make her video, since editing was already a hobby of hers. Since she was little, she created home movies and she recently took a video editing course. Park chose Gödel’s theorem because she felt the contests from the previous year were lacking mathematics and believed she could make it into an engaging video.
“I think Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem is really fascinating, because people don’t think of math as being paradoxical, or there could be a paradox in there,” Park said. “In school, we are taught math is like a plug and chug, putting the numbers in the formulas and just completing steps, the same steps over and over again. But I think math has a lot more to it.”
Park said her video was another way for her to educate people. Park has experience as a tutor and the video was another outlet for her to teach new, interesting topics. She also credits her experience as the co-president of the Game Theory Club at her high school in preparing her to teach complicated terms and creating a curriculum involved with games for elementary school students to make math more of an approachable subject.
“Through the club, we play games like stag hunt and prisoner’s dilemma and we discuss underlying game theory,” Park said. “I hope to teach kids to become more confident in their decision-making, which is really a crucial part of game theory.
Park said everyone should struggle through the process to find new solutions. Before learning Gödel’s Theorem,
she did not realize how math can be applied to so many other fields of study. In the future, she hopes to combine mathematics with solving social issues. She wants to use math in a more applied way such as using models and data charts to find results.
Park said she was hesitant to enter the contest, but along the way, her parents supported her and encouraged her to keep going with her chosen topic. If students in the future have doubts about the contest, Park said “Just go for it.”
“I would just encourage everyone to enter the contest,” Park said. “Even if you don’t win, it’s a valuable experience in and of itself, because you learn some video editing, which is such a cool skill.
Also, you get more comfortable in front of a camera, which is honestly getting more important these days. Most importantly, you learn how to explain something in a clear and engaging way, which is a lesson to have to become a good communicator.”
Park said that the contest is expected to announce the winner sometime in November.
For more information on the contest and see Park’s video visit breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/winners.
