Sophomore Renee Li was recently recognized by the 2026 Young Women in Mathematics Award by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
Li attended the American Math Competition for 10th grade and lower (AMC 10), she said.
“I’ve always been involved in math competitions since I was young,” Li said. “I also participated in AMC8 in seventh grade, and I also scored pretty good. That was at Russell. I just like to try out math competitions, because it’s free.”
Li finished the competition a few months ago, she said. She was surprised when she found out she was one of the few people being recognized for the award, Li said.
“It means more than just an award for me; it’s a way to show that my hard work actually paid off,” Li said. “I know I study so much, I would want a good outcome, right? It’s not just an award, it also shows I have the ability to actually focus on something and actually to be able to have a good outcome, so that also just boosts my self-confidence.”
When doing the competitions, Li does it for fun, she said. However, she does put a lot of effort into preparing for each competition, she added.
“I didn’t take classes for AMC 10, but for AMC 8, I did take classes,” Li said. “It’s a 12-week class that’s just focusing on competition prep. This year, I just looked through the past exam papers, and I just practiced problems.”
Li’s Dad also played a big part in helping her prepare for AMC 10, she said. He is a good teacher, she added.
“I would say he helped me with a lot of the questions,” Li said. “ Even though sometimes when he looked at the question, he wouldn’t know the answer immediately, and he would struggle after he looked at the answer key, like how I would struggle. He would be so patient and explain everything to me.”
Math Club president Crystal Huang met Li through her sister, she said.
“Her little sister is my sister’s friend,” Huang said. “So, I guess as they talk. I saw her once or twice, and we’re technically neighbors.”
Huang has also done some math competitions herself, she said. She has partaken in all the math competitions that Math Club offers, she added.
“The one most recognized within the school was California Mathematics League (CAML). CAML was hosted six times a year, three per semester. The last three months (of first semester) and the first three months (of second semester). We also have a Stanford Math Tournament (SMT) and Berkeley Math Tournament (BMT) competition.”
Huang has never heard of anyone at the school who got that recognition for AMC 10, she said.
“Getting that recognition means that you basically know everything there is to know about math, given the topics that they gave that year,” Huang said. “But if she can do it, then that’s her ability. That means she probably had a lot of hard work, a lot of effort, and a lot of talent in there.”
Sophomore Niti Patil met Li this year through a few shared classes, she said.
“We had a few similar teachers, and a lot of the classes that we shared were kind of challenging,” Patil said. “We got to like working together in classes like Chemistry, and naturally we kind of became friends from there.”
Patil remembers Li mentioning how she got qualified for AMC10, she said.
“She definitely deserves it,” Patil said. “She’s naturally smart, but also I know that she works really hard. She usually has free time in fourth period, and I know that she utilizes that time to study.”
Overall, Li deserves the recognition she received from this math competition, Patil said.
“I’m really proud of her for achieving something like this, because I know that she works really hard, and she’s focused,” Patil said.
In the future, Li plans to attend more math competitions, she said.
“I’m part of the Math Club, so as an officer I have to do it,” Li said. “Next year I’m gonna be doing AMC 12. I’m also gonna prepare for that, which is gonna be harder, because AMC 12 will include calculus, which will be a lot harder, and a lot longer. Hopefully, I can do well.”
Renee Li gets recognized for the Young Women in Mathematics Award
