That 2033-2034 season is reminiscent of the 2025-2026 season in that all 3 of the VAs' academic teams have a shot at the postseason. Mathletics, quiz bowl or debate.
After years of debate falling short of Nats berths (but the VAs were still the premier debate team in southwest Louisiana), the VAs might have a chance in LD and/or PF. As for quiz bowl, the VAs are a dynasty by Louisiana standards by now and they are expected to not only do well at State, but also do well once at the HSNCT.
But going into the USAMO in mid-March, the home stretch of the race to the IMO, the attention of the parish is squarely on the race to the IMO.
"Honey, you might want to take a look at the update on the parish newspaper's website. The race to the IMO trackers to be exact" Selena has the webpage of these trackers open on the tablet, with Trillian marked in purple on the leaderboards.
Even today, the race is a lot stiffer for the IMO than for the EGMO. While Trillian is virtually assured of competing at the EGMO, barring some force majeure, the IMO, on the other hand, is far from a given for her. As of right now, she sits in fifth place after the APMO.
"As much as I would have loved to proctor her personally, there's good reason why I couldn't, not even for our own daughter back then. My own work as a superintendent is pretty merciless. But if Trillian makes it to the IMO, I will retire at the end of the school year" Glen then realizes why he couldn't have proctored the USAMO.
"For years now, you kept talking about trying to get a girl to the IMO. But there were lines you seemed unwilling to cross" Selena comments on this quest that was going on for years now. "For years now, girls all across the parish have been told about how they can be good at math since, say, Gen, or whoever is the female star of the day, can be"
"If we were in California, Texas, mid-Atlantic or the Northeast, parents of IMO hopefuls would hothouse the kids like crazy. However, as much as performance in elementary school could predict performance all the way through high school, we couldn't afford to screen that early for girls that would potentially get to the IMO eight to ten years down the road, much less deploy an intensive training regimen for those girls, without risking incurring the wrath of the population. Here, parents usually shy away from rocking the academic boat with their kids"
"You must admit that this parish is not as poor in smarter kids than you initially believed, but your actions had the consequence of making people feel like boys are too undisciplined for high academic performance"
"I believe it goes beyond the scope of what a superintendent can do. We are at the mercy of the local job market. Boys tend to be more drawn to trade schools or other professions that are readily accessible without higher education, at least around here"
"We won't know the results of the USAMO before early April, so maybe we should go to the debate district qualifier to support our beloved VAs" Selena suggests to him. "The debate team was your idea when you were the principal of this place"
Even with Flo as a debate coach, even with the rationing of varsity teams still in effect, it's not a given that you could have gotten one player in any given incoming class that could contend for a state title out of the town's residents, Glen realizes that Florence inherited a second-rate debate team simply because of how inconsistent student bodies are year-on-year. And same goes of the other 2 teams.
"OK, I will go. But only for Saturday" Glen replies to her.
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Since the tournament takes place on Saturday morning, the couple reviews the results from Friday night after having driven in the early morning to get there. So this year our best two hopes to qualify for Nats are LD and PF? I recognize some player names among the VAs' roster at the district qualifier because they seem to be relatives of past people on academic teams. Like our LD player is the little brother of Nicole, one of the PF players is the little brother of Myriam, Selena reflects on how she became familiar with the people playing for Nats berths this year.
Shortly before the playoff games begin for LD and PF, which are the only VA entries remaining in Nats contention, the couple fights between each other.
"Honey, I did this so that you can relax for a bit. You've been a VA mathletics fanatic since there even was mathletics to begin with! Why have you been so preoccupied with the race to the IMO lately?" Selena asks Glen in a hallway.
"When you invoke mathletics as a sign that math achievement is unevenly distributed to get money from the legislature, you get invested into everyone's continued mathletic success" Glen explains himself before getting yelled at by his wife.
"By that logic, you should also support the debate team, too!"
"Unfortunately, interscholastic debating is not an activity other schools in the parish can afford, and the literacy achievement is more evenly distributed"
If VA can somehow run a debate season on about $1k/player, at those rates, fielding even a 3-player high school debate team can put a dent into the finances of a school like Elton (about 150 kids total), and is a risky proposition at best for Lacassine or Hathaway. Mathletics costs the parish about one-tenth as much as debate on a per-capita basis under the rules in effect for mathletics in the parish. According to the parochial rules, no traveling math tournament is authorized for any parish team except for the EGMO and the IMO, in which case the MAA foots the bill.
"People would still focus on whichever one they do because they don't have much of a choice! One activity per subject area" Flo, having overheard them, comments on this fight between the VA supporters. "Sure the players have gotten better and more comfortable speaking in public, often they come to the team because the material interests them; theater is what others take up if they are comfortable with public speaking but not with the material"
"I think I only saw one student transfer because of concerns over academic teams. VA saw no one attempting to transfer in to play quiz bowl or debate. However, the parish not providing transportation might prevent some would-be debaters or quiz bowlers from transferring" Glen comments on the appeal of debate or quiz bowl among the students of other parish schools.
"If you could please excuse me, the public forum quarterfinals will begin soon" Florence then warns the couple.
Selena then watches the LD game, while Glen goes to the Venomous Agendas' PF game. Both entries have 2 games to win if they are to compete at Nats, and both have their share of eliminated VA players, mostly Congressional, and their respective parents in attendance.
Three hours later, after the semifinals end, the VAs' debate team then ends up together with what few supporters they could get.
"We did it! We are going to Nats this year!" an exuberant PF pair, made up of Amica and Jacob, announces in front of the other VAs.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Me too!" Henry, the LD player, jumps for joy.
For years, debate has been the poor child of Venomous Agendas academic extracurriculars. VA being at Nats again after six long years is good to see. All in all, quiz bowl was the most consistent VA academic team. I really hope that we win the next playoff round of the Math Madness because then the debate team no longer needs to worry about being able to afford attending Nats, Glen reflects on what's next for the debate team.
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Two weeks later, tipped off by the MAA, major media outlets come to Venomous Agendas High in search for Trillian, not only in-state, but also from Houston as well. Going into the USAMO, Trillian was projected to finish the race to the IMO between fourth and sixth, and to the eyes of so many in town, given the sheer amount of media coverage, it's clear that Trillian won a spot on the national team for the IMO. For this occasion, the head of the team selection committee traveled to Jennings and announced the IMO team roster.
Almost the entire student body is assembled at the auditorium when the press conference starts, with the head of the team selection committee taking center stage, in front of cameras broadcasting nationwide. Of course, Glen goes to VA's auditorium to attend what he views as the parish's triumph:
"For the first time in US history, Louisiana has a representative at the International Mathematical Olympiad! More important than state representation, however, it is my honor to introduce you to the first non-White/Asian girl to compete for the United States at the IMO, from Venomous Agendas High in Louisiana..." the committee head pauses before giving a name that, while locals knew for years, along with mathletics fanatics who faithfully read the parish newspaper, was, until now, a near-complete unknown nationally among the general public. "Trillian CO-RA-DI-NES!"
"Trillian! Trillian!" the crowd starts chanting when she gets on stage to speak in front of the camera.
May you enjoy the next 3 months under the spotlight... you will cherish these 3 months for the rest of your life! Glen can't help but feel for the weight of what Trillian has accomplished on the national mathletic stage, before speaking, but after the head of the selection committee runs down all 6 names, home institutions and their respective states.
"On behalf of Jefferson Davis Parish Public Schools, this is the crowning achievement in our history of producing girls who compete in mathletics at high levels! None of this would have been possible without the support of the parish's residents!" an ecstatic Glen shouts on stage.
This means I must start planning for this trip to the IMO so that I can be there with and for Trillian in what I built my entire career as a school administrator around! Glen then comes to this realization when he leaves the stage, as the cameras turn to Trillian once more.
And then comes the questions of the journalists. These questions mostly seem to be about Trillian's race and gender, and how it affected her life as a mathlete. About how, as a 14-year-old, she is propelled to stardom early in life and all that.
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However, the real kicker came after the end of the EGMO, where she is invited on one of the major national Sunday morning talk shows dealing in social issues, to talk about not only her road to the IMO, but also other issues in girls' mathletics. Glen tunes in on the talk show to watch Trillian.
"How do you feel about being a girl of color in mathletics?" the host asks her.
"This question has two parts. In my hometown, we essentially took for granted that girls could perform in mathletics since I was four. So much so that athlete vs mathlete seemingly takes on a gendered dimension. There are still more boys on the math team, but girls tended to be better on average because they have higher social barriers to overcome. In a typical class at my school, out of about one hundred and fifty kids, only two or three are on track to take AP Calculus BC by junior year. Girls tended to think the math team is not for them unless you were on track for that, but everyone who took AP Calculus BC as a junior was, historically, on the team also. Usually it's one boy and one girl per year"
"And the race part then?"
"At my school, there is only one Asian kid per class at most, and it wasn't a given that kid would play on the math team. There are a handful of Hispanics and Blacks on the team, but we never made a fuss over race on the math team. I guess we are lucky"
Past Blacks included Vontae, Faith and Salome in chronological order, and, currently, Ukiah, while Hispanics on past math teams included Cristiano, Zamora and, of course, Trillian. Ukiah and Zamora both graduate this year, Glen runs down his knowledge of past and present Venomous Agenda BIPOC mathletes, which, in mathletics, usually excludes Asians. The host then asks Trillian questions about family life at home.
"I would be lying if I said that my family life was happy. Sometimes I had the impression that my parents pushed me, and for me, like crazy as if I was to make their broken dreams come true. I began first grade at the age of four. And my parents hothoused me since, so that I could wear the purple and green of the Venomous Agendas in mathletic competitions. While I might appear happy now, on TV, my parents yelled at me on many occasions. I'd do my homework, but in fourth grade they made me spend entire weekends doing old AMC-twelve sets, and, in sixth grade, old AIME sets, until, by eighth grade, IMO problems kicked in. They also bought me season tickets for VA math games until I could actually play on the team. And, of course, making me solve every problem from every game I went to"
"Math games?" the host gasps. "What were these math games made of?" he then asks.
Wow. I would never have expected Trillian to be pushed that hard since the age of 4. I knew she dreamed of playing on the VAs' math team since the age of 4, but never to be doing IMO problems as an eighth-grader! Also, for some reason, post-pandemic, parents in the parish who try to use their kids for vicarious wish fulfillment tend to do so on the youngest kids. Trillian and Valerie for mathletics at VA, I am sure there are others on other teams, a surprised Glen keeps thinking about the implications of hothousing.
"Did you act out?" the host asks her.
"At MOP, which was one of the few occasions I had to be away from the stresses of my family life, I had my first taste of freedom and I did all sorts of things I wasn't allowed to at home, just not criminal in nature. And then came the EGMO last week, which was an isolympic contest since the questions came from past IMO long lists"
"What does that imply going into the IMO?"
"I expect the core difference to be mostly social. Whereas the EGMO is female-only, and all other major tournaments in my life were held remotely, the IMO is going to be mostly male"
"Going back to hothousing. How did that affect your health?"
"And my parents yelled at me more often the higher the level of tournaments I entered, which made me feel inadequate when I first entered the USAMO. My anxiety didn't subside until well after the results were released; there were times where I feel almost unable to function. So I am issuing the following warning to parents, if you have children at home: please, do not give in to the temptation to use your children for vicarious wish fulfillment! They might end up being depressed, and even resort to violence if left unchecked!"
The commercials then kick in after Trillian finishes talking about the dangers of hothousing for the whole family. He starts booking a trip package for two...
"As promised, I will retire as superintendent now that a female parishioner got to the IMO. What better way to start my life as a retired superintendent than to support our local kid?" Glen asks his wife.
"This reminds us to ask for our passports! Even though I don't feel as good as you about supporting Trillian - I was hoping back then that Gen or Jennifer would qualify, or even our own daughter - I owe that to the parish" Selena points out to him.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing so even though Valerie is no longer in speaking terms with us, we should visit as much as we can of the host city while the IMO is underway, knowing that we cannot be there at the actual competition venue"
Delhi being where the competition is held this year, Glen needs to review the Indian visa requirements, if any, for traveling there on an US passport. One the commercials end and the show resumes...
"How did your parents feel about your life as a mathlete?" the host asks Trillian.
"My parents feel the same roller coaster of emotions as I did since they feel their own worth as parents was dependent on how I performed as a mathlete. I endured amounts of stress like practically no other kid in the parish did just to get to the IMO, and to be the first non-Asian BIPOC female contestant at the IMO for the US is just... unreal! And they also wished me to get popular in school the way they never were themselves, but in my hometown, getting popular meant brains was the order of the day for girls"
"Do you have any closing remarks?" the host asks her.
"Yes. I feel like I don't have much autonomy, not even academic or intellectual. And my parents always stressed the importance of strong performance at the IMO for college. They should be happy now, but it's better to nurture children without having to constantly yell behind their backs! Let kids be kids!"