The Jim Bolen Mathematics Competition first-place winner in the TCC district-wide competition is an 11-year-old boy.
The awards ceremony returned for its 37th year to award top TCC student competitors in subjects ranging from algebra, trigonometry, geometry and analytical reasoning.
The winner Derek Jiang is in seventh grade, and while taking higher education classes at TCC found out about the Jim Bolen Mathematics competition through his teacher.
He explained what inspired him to join was his skills.
“I’m kind of good at math, and I seem to have a talent,” he said.
He’s a self-study student and his favorite class he’s taken so far is calculus three. Jiang is unsure what his next steps are for his classes but likes the idea of taking a few physics classes.
The Jim Bolen Mathematics Competition is a student mathematics league established by the American Mathematical Association of two-year colleges.
In preliminary results, the competing TCC students ranked first in the southwest region in the fall of 2024 and seventh in the nation this spring.
According to NW Campus Vice President of Academic Affairs Thomas Sosa, TCC is on track to be No. 1 in the southwest region for nine consecutive years.
During the ceremony, NW Campus President Zerena Blankenbaker said she was proud of the success the competition has brought for TCC and the impact it has on the college.
“What we celebrate today goes beyond test scores or rankings,” she said. “This moment is a reflection of the collective strength of our college, our faculty, academic leaders and student support teams all working together to create opportunities for growth, achievement and discovery at Tarrant County College.”
Another student competitor, Johhny Tren, is an international student from Vietnam. In total, he received eight awards split between the fall and spring semester. He felt that competing at TCC gave him the feeling of being acknowledged and involved with a high-level institution.
Tren decided he wanted to compete last year in the fall after seeing the courses offered at TCC.
“I realized with all the math courses I could take at TCC I already did all of them in high school back in Vietnam,” he said. “So might as well put it to the test and see how well I can do mathematically in a foreign country.”
Included was a variety of cash prizes from the Campuses. Along with that, the Tarrant County College Foundation, Angelo State University, University of Texas at Arlington and TCU provided scholarships per semester and up to certain amounts of money.
The highest, which was awarded by TCU, was a $250,000 scholarship to Christopher Manquez.
At the end of the ceremony, Sosa left off saying that he was proud of the students and knew that they would continue to make TCC proud in their future careers.
“To all the students who participated in the TCC Jim Bolen Math Competition, your passion for mathematics, your pursuit for excellence and your dedication to learning are truly commendable,” he said.
