I was a top student in America.

Unlike many summer programs that are just a formality of visiting the campus, the math competition summer camp got down to business from the second day onwards.

Not only was the schedule packed, but the training intensity also increased dramatically.

The morning consists of four hours of lectures, the afternoon consists of two hours of group discussions plus two hours of problem explanations, and the evening consists of free discussion and Q&A sessions with teaching assistants in a designated classroom.

This is completely different from the kind of summer camps in regular high schools that offer superficial resumes.

Moreover, this is only the basic arrangement for the first week; the mock exams and special training sessions will only become more frequent in the following weeks.

At noon, just after the first morning's special lectures ended in the lecture hall, many students received emails from the teaching assistants.

Although the summer camp said they wouldn't disclose the preliminary results, judging from the emails, everyone basically had a general idea.

After class, the difference in people's moods immediately became apparent.

Within minutes of the email being sent, the hallway was filled with hushed whispers.

On the way to the Illini Alliance Restaurant, groups of students were venting their frustrations to each other.

"I received an email notifying me to attend the evening tutoring session with the teaching assistants." A boy sighed. "Ugh, starting from the bottom of the class, I really don't know what's so good about this summer camp."

"I was heartbroken after checking the answers yesterday. I'm glad I wasn't assigned a tutoring class today, but I guess it'll be soon. They're assessing students right at the start of the program; that's too much of a favor to the returning students."

"The top few must all be people who came last year."

"You should be grateful. David told me that there's a bottom-ranking elimination system for the evening tutoring sessions, and you might actually get kicked out early."

……

Li Ao and his roommates arrived at the Illini Union Restaurant.

Having heard so much discussion about the diagnostic test along the way, they naturally couldn't avoid the topic when they sat down to eat.

Taylor seemed the most relaxed, stuffing food into her mouth as she started talking: "At least I wasn't assigned to the evening tutoring sessions. That's much less stressful now, and I can manage my own time for evening self-study."

"You wouldn't believe it, I had a dream last night that the teaching assistant forced me to write Menelaus' theorem in front of the whiteboard. It scared me to death."

"David said that the tutoring sessions are only for addressing weaknesses, and there's still a chance to catch up in the mock tests later," Ethan chimed in, as if encouraging himself.

Back in his hometown of Arkansas, he was considered a super genius by his teachers and classmates. He got into summer camp by doing practice problems on his own, and he thought that once he entered the black belt group, he could make great strides. However, he was given a cold shower after only two days of camp.

His initial assessment score was only around the average, less than ten points away from the passing grade in the tutoring class. One more mistake would have caused him to drop in the grade.

The sense of loss was indeed painful, but fortunately, his roommates comforted him and he recovered. He secretly planned to work hard to improve his weaknesses and strive to be at the top in the next mock exam, while also making Li Ao his target to catch up with.

"Actually, the evening tutoring sessions are similar to regular discussions, except that the teaching assistants keep a closer eye on us."

Kevin added, "The so-called 'veteran students' only benefit from the coach's familiarity; the mock exams and assignments are the real indicators. I also heard that one of the veteran students in the black belt group was forced to attend remedial classes this time."

"I can only say that the difference between people is sometimes greater than the difference between a person and a pig." Taylor, who had eaten half of his meal, suddenly turned to Li Ao and gave him a thumbs up. "I'm truly impressed, Leo."

After lunch, everyone went back to their dormitories to rest and prepare for the group discussions and practice materials class in the afternoon.

Although listening to lectures is not as stressful as taking exams, sitting for several hours straight for mental stimulation is definitely a physically demanding task.

Only Li Ao didn't take a lunch break and was still sitting at his desk flipping through books.

With the support of deep sleep and endurance, he basically doesn't need extra rest during the day.

This kind of cheat code can't be wasted. Sixteen hours of study a day is a bit too little for him now.

A short while later, Taylor ran back from outside, carrying several bottles of chilled Gatorade and a dozen energy bars.

He dumped the stuff on the table and generously said, "Brothers, it's on me, help yourself! I'll be relying on this to survive this afternoon's lecture."

Kevin casually picked up a bottle of beverage and examined it: "This stuff works better than coffee?"

"Won't eating too much cause sudden death?" Ethan was a little tempted, but still asked with some unease.

"Don't worry, I've checked it all," Taylor assured him, patting his chest. "As long as you don't eat it as food and drink it like water, it'll be fine. But be careful, this stuff is ridiculously high in calories, and eating too much will easily make you fat."

As he spoke, he handed the drinks to each of his roommates.

When it was Li Ao's turn, he waved his hand and didn't take it: "David told me to sit in on the Mathematical Analysis Workshop in the Mathematics Building this afternoon, and said I don't need to go to the Problem Solving Materials class. They provide free coffee and snacks there, so I won't waste your drink."

After receiving the preliminary results email in the morning, David immediately sent him a second notification, specifically arranging for him to audit the Mathematical Analysis Workshop in the Department of Mathematics at UIUC, and emphasizing that this was the coaching staff's idea.

Li Ao certainly wouldn't refuse. He had been studying "Principles of Mathematical Analysis" these past few days, and had just come to the part about the uniform convergence of function sequences, which he was really interested in how university professors explained it.

It's said that Professor Philip, who is giving the lecture, has a very high rating on the "Rate My Professors" website, so there's no reason to miss out on such a high-quality resource that's been delivered right to your doorstep.

Anyway, the summer camp handouts and exercise materials will be sent out later, so it doesn't matter whether we attend regular exercise classes or not.

This news caused an uproar in the dormitory. The roommates were even more shocked than when they guessed that Li Ao had scored full marks in the preliminary assessment.

"No need to go to the afternoon lecture? Wow, that's awesome!"

Taylor's eyes widened. Summer camp schedules were always bizarre; there was no way to ask for leave.

"It seems Leo got a perfect score on the placement test. Otherwise, even a veteran student wouldn't be qualified to skip the practice sessions." Kevin's tone was tinged with a sour envy.

In the end, the three of them brought enough "life-saving" rations to the lecture hall, while Li Ao went to the mathematics building alone, following the address in the email.

……

Benjamin is in a pretty good mood today.

He scored full marks in the preliminary assessment, which not only put him on the coaching staff's list of key observers, but also allowed him to audit a mathematical analysis seminar in the Department of Mathematics at UIUC. This shows that the coaching staff still values ​​him highly.

Professor Jensen mentored him individually during last year's summer camp, and he still works on small projects with professors at the University of Chicago every week, so they are old acquaintances.

At this rate, being selected for the national team for the second time is practically a certainty.

Thinking of this, he put the little incident during yesterday's exam out of his mind.

What does it mean to be able to solve problems quickly?

Mathematics competitions assess the rigor of the final proof steps.

His perfect score is the best proof.

The new student who handed in his paper early, even though he had practiced IMO past papers before, still had a weaker foundation compared to the veteran student who had won an IMO gold medal.

Otherwise, why didn't I see this person at last year's summer camp?

As he was thinking this, he walked to the bottom of the math building and was about to step up the stairs when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye.

"Isn't this... the kid who handed in his paper early yesterday?"

After recognizing the other person, Benjamin hesitated for a moment, then stopped and waited in place.

As the person approached, he adopted the air of a senior student and reminded him, "What are you doing here? The black belt group is all in the lecture hall this afternoon. Running around and being absent will result in a deduction of attendance points."

Li Ao looked up when he heard the voice, and his gaze swept over the other person's curly hair. Only then did he recognize that this was Benjamin Zhang, whom Kevin had been gossiping about at noon.

He stopped and casually replied, "David asked me to audit the Mathematical Analysis Workshop; I don't need to go to the afternoon lectures."

"Attend a workshop?" Benjamin repeated as if he hadn't heard clearly, his smug expression freezing.

He realized what was happening and immediately asked, "You also got a perfect score on the placement test?"

"Yes, is there a problem?" Li Ao nodded.

He had no interest in chatting with the other person, so after replying, he walked past them and went up the stairs.

Benjamin stood there stunned for more than ten seconds before he came to his senses and hurriedly followed after him, his steps slightly unsteady.

……