My name is Amelie Alchin but most people call me Millie. I have just finished iGCSE maths here at UWC. I enjoy maths; I like the rhythm of sitting by myself and working through a sheet of problems. I actually find it quite therapeutic (as long as I can solve them). I’m excited about starting analysis because I also love finding out how and why formulae work. The application is okay too but the explanation is more interesting for me. I like to be taught how to answer certain questions as a class but then have time alone to practice and see how confident I am. In IGCSE, when I felt stuck, I would try to figure it out myself. If I couldn’t after ten minutes or so I would approach Ms Tippi and ask her how to solve it.

I think my best quality is that I am self-disciplined and work hard in class stay on task as best I can. I would like to think I am persistent but am also aware that sometimes it is not worth wasting time on a question that you can’t do. This year I would like to remain as organised as possible, always doing homework and staying on top of things but I think I need to work on being more collaborative with others and working together rather than by myself all the time.

Having said I would like to work on being more collaborative, I think it useful to share that I prefer sitting alone to people who are very talkative; I find it quite difficult to work when there is a lot of noise. As a result, I also like to listen to music. It helps me focus – and in exams, I am allowed noise-cancelling headphones so it is not an issue in that area. I also prefer to do questions sitting at a table on a book rather than on whiteboards.