Determine all composite positive integers n for which it is possible to arrange all divisors of n that are greater than 1 in a circle so that no two adjacent divisors are relatively prime.

—From the 34th annual USAMO competition

While problems like the one above would stump the average Gunn math student, they are standard fare for math whiz junior Wendy Lee. Along with four other Gunn students, Lee recently qualified to take the United States of America Math Olympiad (USAMO), the prestigious third step in the Mathematical Association of America’s series of competitions. Approximately 250 high school students in the United States are invited to take the nine-hour exam, given over two days.

Math has not always been Lee’s forte. In fact, during elementary school, it was her worst subject. It was only when her sixth grade teacher suggested that she compete in the Notre Dame Math Competition, a local contest for middle-school girls, that Lee realized she had talent. She took first place and has been competing in math competitions ever since.

Lee competed in Math Counts competitions in middle school, taking fifth place both individually and with her team in the state competition when she was in eighth grade.

When she arrived as a freshman at Gunn, Lee decided to pursue her interest in the subject further and join Math Circle, an after-school and lunchtime group sponsored by math teacher Peter Herreshoff. The group spends the majority of the time doing problems similar to those in math contests like the AMC, AIME and USAMO.

“She’s a very talented individual, and she definitely works hard developing that talent,” Herreshoff said. “It’s not like everything comes automatically to her, but it does come fairly easily.”

Despite the fact that she is the only female student in the group, Lee does not feel affected by the gender difference. “I don’t really notice it,” Lee said. “I’ve known [the other members] since middle school. I feel pretty comfortable talking about math stuff with them.”

Although the problems on the math contests are very demanding, Lee explains that she enjoys the opportunity to stretch herself. “I like the challenge,” she said. “It’s very logical and it’s fun being able to solve really hard problems.”

Furthermore, Lee says that at least to some extent, practice makes perfect. “You can read a lot of books about well-known theorems and useful problems and you can look at solutions of past problems,” Lee said. “It gets easier once your familiarize yourself with them.”

Hopefully, Lee’s diligent practice will pay off at the USAMO competition, which were held at Gunn on April 18 and 19. Lee says it doubtful that she will qualify to go to the next level of the competition, a summer training program held in Nebraska for the 12 top-scoring students. “I want to at least not get a zero at USAMO,” she said. “It’s pretty difficult, so a lot of people who qualify actually get zeros.”

Although Lee is not sure what she will want to major in college, she is sure that whatever subject she decides to pursue will have something to do with math. For now, Lee will continue participating in math competitions, being a member of the Gunn Robotics Team, playing violin in the El Camino Youth Symphony’s senior ensemble and competing with the varsity girls tennis team. “I try to focus on what I’m doing and do it well,” she said.

USAMO Facts:

• test consists of six questions
• competition takes nine hours and takes two days to complete
• six top scorers join the International Mathematical Olympiad