by AuSmith » Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:08 pm
I haven't taken a NS test since state two years ago. Unfortunately, I stopped enjoying all of it around 10th grade. So, I'll mention it to people to defend having memorized 7^5. 6^5, 2^25 (33554432=Dr Morgan's favorite power of 2), etc. Oh, and I find it funny that 13^3=2197 and 3^7=2187... anyways, Bryant Heath (two years my senior) and I have become better friends and were going to compete against eachother after years of not practicing. It still hasn't happened... but I think we will eventually.
I memorized cubes up to 25 and they promptly bacame vague past 16^3 (after rarely needing them). 17^3 stuck with me for some reason... and 20^3. Then, I'd develop familiar paths for calculating the missing cubes. Since n^2=1,-1(mod 5), it's convenient to round the square to the nearest 5, then multiply... like 18^3=18*(325-1)=650*9-18.
And, I'm a senior now at U of Missouri-Rolla. It was possible for me to graduate next semester (2 years), but I've been wondering how ambitious that was. I got in a bad car wreck 6 weeks ago, was out of school for 3 weeks, and my parents got me to drop 6 hours. So, I'll graduate in 2.5 years, looks like. Not bad. I can now take the Putnam 3 times! lol. My RA just told me last night that a bunch of physics majors come in with over 100 credit hours, but it's from dual credit at an academy... kinda like TAMS, I presume.