1. As a high school student I involved myself in many mathematics courses and activities. My reasons and inspirations for doing so were that I found math to be very interesting and I liked how math has so many real-life applications, so I decided to do as many mathematics related things as possible. Also, I really enjoyed the rigor of the math courses I was taking because it allowed me to improve my math skills. I also like how there are so many different parts of mathematics (calculus, statistics, algebra, etc.), so there is always something new to learn. In addition, I like how math was used in every course I was taking, so I was inspired to take as many math courses as I could in order to ensure that I was prepared for any math related problem I was asked to do. I was able to manage and integrate the coursework with other school and life activities because I formed a study group with my friends that were taking the same classes as I was, specifically the same math class. This helped me manage and integrate the coursework because I was able to complete all of my work by bouncing off ideas with my study buddies and if I got stuck on a math problem, my friends and I would figure it out together. Since all of the workload wasn't just on me and I knew that I could get help not only from my friends but also from my teacher, it was easy to manage and integrate the coursework with other school and life activities because the coursework didn't feel as heavy. Due to this, I was able to enjoy the math I was doing rather than being stressed about the workload. Also, this gave me more time to enjoy doing things such as taking community college courses, playing the violin in the cvhs mariachi, and hanging out with my 1 year old nephew after school.

2. As a new university student, my high school mathematics experience fits with and supports the university environment because I have had to take multiple mathematics courses throughout my first year of college and reflecting back, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to be so involved in mathematics when I was in high school because it has allowed me to get good grades in my math classes since I have a really good understanding of mathematics, specifically calculus.

3. The advice I would give to current high school students that would help them increase their personal probability of success is to integrate math as much as you can in your courses and in your life because regardless what career you would like to pursue in the future, they all involve math in some way! Also, I would say that you should get comfortable with asking questions because the more questions you ask, the more you will know and it is much better to think that you asked a question that was common sense but develop a great understanding of the topic rather than not asking the question and lacking that knowledge, specifically in math since it is much more difficult to grasp a concept if you do not have a great understanding of one of the concepts taught previously.