LIVING SMARTLY

Unlike most young children who grew up pursuing a sport or an art form, I surprisingly grew up under the roof of mathematics. However, the mathematics I am accustomed to is quite different from the traditional topics taught at schools and education centers. Many people perceive mathematics as a tedious and even repulsive subject. But honestly, after learning so many different variables and graphing methods over my years in the public education system, I would agree with them. I mean, where have the numbers gone? Oh right, you have to find them. Since I was 7 years old, I have been practicing a form of mathematics based on the “Soroban,” Japanese for abacus. The abacus tool has been proven to reinforce memory, reaction-speeds, and generally strengthen intellectual abilities. First, one must learn how to operate and then store the visual image of the abacus into their long-term memory.

This process is really quite simple. This tool is comprised of disc-like beads (typically brown) on a rectangular frame (typically black). The top beads represent the value of “5” while the bottom beads each represent a value of “1” and add up to a value of “4.” At the beginning of education for this device, it is essential to learn the common rules, such as the sets of two numbers that add up to 5 and the sets of two numbers that add up to ten. For example, 2 and 3 add up to 5, while 2 and 8 add up to 10 and vice versa.

My education through the abacus has been supported through the mother organization named UAAA, or the United Abacus Arithmetic Association (http://www.unitedaaa-global.org/). In this organization, students practice in workbooks and at the multiple learning centers until they reach a certain level. At every level, much like when playing videogames, there is something called an annual assessment test to assess whether individuals can pass on to the next level. Personally, I have reached the mastery levels, and have ceased to take this annual test. However, I have also competed in numerous global and national mental arithmetic and abacus competitions.

In the past couple of years, I competed in the mental math and abacus competition in Japan, Taiwan, and even the ones held in Anaheim. In 2012, when my family and I traveled to Japan, we visited Disney World, Tokyo. The trip was very memorable and really interested me about different cultures. I learned that most Japanese people cannot speak any English and that every location is cleaner than a fresh piece of paper, even the public bathroom. In fact, people are not permitted to enter some public restrooms before putting on their slippers by the door. The past two years, a Global Cup was also held in Anaheim, California, and quite exhilarating experiences as well. This year we even invited Disney Characters, such as Elsa and Mickey Mouse to join in the celebrations of our smarticle particles during the award ceremony.

This is a video of my sister performing at the 2015 Global Cup in Anaheim, CA.

Reminiscing on the event this summer in mid-July, adrenaline rushes up my spine as I sit down in front of a piece of milky, white paper flipped to its back side. I run my finger up my pencil and dangle my hand along the green tablecloth until “Whooosh!” The whistle sounds and I rapidly calculate in the brief minute that I have been given. My nerves are jerking everywhere over my body until “Whooosh!” Again the whistle has sounded and I have finished my exam. This process continues for a couple more sheets of exam parchment, I am put under the pressures of speed, accuracy, and those darn butterflies periodically stampeding around my stomach.

Fast forwarding a bit to the award ceremony, I am assigned a seat near the front of the auditorium. As a patiently wait for the time to pass as the guest speakers present their speeches, the award reception process finally begins. The testing brackets are based on birth year, for instance, students born from the years 2002 to 2004 would be in the same group, while each group is based on a letter of the alphabet, ranging from A-E. As the host prepares to announce the winning names for my group, Group E, my heart again begins to excitedly jump around its chambers until at last, I hear my name. I have been pronounced the competition champion for my testing bracket. After dedication and practice, my hard work has finally paid off. As a matter of fact, my sister and I have attended and won the titles of “Grand Champion” of our separate brackets at every competition that we have attended. UAAA not only trains students to become testing machines in a way, but also provides many scholarship and volunteering opportunities.

Left: Congressman Ed Royce, Center: Me, Right: President Ms. Carolyn An

Besides competitions and assessment tests, UAAA provides scholarships ranging from $200 to $500 per subject based on exam achievements, essay scholarships, and volunteering achievements. I have personally received the scholarships for the essays as well as for exams, when I achieved a certain level in assessment. Furthermore, UAAA also provides many volunteer opportunities. For instance, we have assisted at the APAPA annual conventions, or Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association. Through APAPA, I have gained knowledge of leadership as well as the cultural and societal significance of Asian Americans in Western society. Today, I teach students at the headquarters in Diamond Bar in Mental and Abacus Arithmetic as well as in the Irvine Tzu Chi Chinese School. As a teacher, I have learned to utilize leadership to improve students’ education and given back to my community.

Based on this wonderful organization, I have begun my own club at Los Osos High School, named SMARTS, or Soroban Mental Arithmetic Road to Success. Through SMARTS, students gain opportunities in competitive achievement in our annual Flash Mental Arithmetic Tournament as well as volunteer opportunities through UAAA. Flash Mental Math is basically a process where students quickly add up numbers using their intellectual abacus in speedy intervals.

Throughout my many years of learning and mastering the abacus and the visual image thereof, I have gained much experience and brain-prowess that I will be forever grateful for. I hope to encourage the dispersion of abacus culture and the incorporation of abacus use into our education system. It would honestly make life so much easier! Instead of looking at numbers adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers in vertical way, the abacus allows students to do so horizontally and significantly faster. The abacus has become a huge aspect of my life, though I am rarely present with the physical counterparts of this handy tool. It has helped me accomplish many activities and continues to aid me greatly in many aspects of my daily life, such as when double-checking my shopping receipt in my head without pulling out a calculator. I would finally like to thank my parents as well as my teachers, Ms. Carolyn An and Mr. Ross Yang, for forever supporting me in my endeavors. My knowledge of the abacus and mental math has definitely impacted my life for the better.