Rider success in the New Jersey Undergraduate Mathematics Competition

By Brannagh Rattigan

Out of the eight Rider students that participated in the New Jersey Undergraduate Mathematics Competition, organized by the Mathematical Association of America at Ramapo College, one team of three, made up by Jayden Humphris, Emily Hehir and Rose Pavely, took home a fourth place finish out of 30 teams.

Toufik Khyat, math club adviser and assistant professor, guided Rider participants leading up to the competition.

“I focused on recruiting motivated students and handling all the logistics with the organizers so the team could focus entirely on the math. To get them ready, I provided past competition questions and detailed solutions to demystify the difficulty level,” Khyat said. “We also discussed time-management strategies and how to tackle the specific style of the exam. Finally, I accompanied them to the event to cheer them on and ensure everything ran smoothly.”

In addition to the team win, Humphris, a senior mathematics major, achieved an eighth place finish out of 90 students in the individual rankings. 

“It felt great to see that I placed so highly, though it was a bit surprising,” Humphris said. “It was an honor to receive my individual award. The math faculty from Rider were also very happy with how well I did.”

At the collegiate level, this was Humphris’ first mathematical award, though he shared that math has been a strong subject for him since elementary school.

“I am proud to say that I’ve had consistently excellent performances in the subject academically, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed what I’ve learned so far,” Humphris said.

Although Humphris and his teammates prepared for the competition by studying previous years’ problems and solutions, he expressed a lack of confidence going into the challenge. However, the results of his individual and the team’s successes helped him find faith in himself.

“It reemphasized for me my capabilities in and love of mathematics,” Humphris said.

Emily Hehir, a senior mathematics major and member of the fourth place team, expressed her feelings on their ranking in the competition.

“It felt great to have my team place so highly. There were a lot of really good teams there, so I was surprised to hear that we placed as high as we did,” Hehir said.

Similar to Humphris, Hehir has had a long-standing love for mathematics and has always excelled in the subject. In addition to good grades, Hehir has been previously recognized for her skill in mathematics. 

“In my senior year of high school, I won an award for outstanding achievement in mathematics, but not much else in college,” Hehir said.

Hehir went into the competition with self-assurance from her diligence in practice, and was glad to see that all of her and her teammates’ hard work had paid off with the results. Hehir recognized that it took a team effort to accomplish the fourth place finish.

Hehir said, “My greatest takeaway was that working as a team was what allowed us to do so well. Being able to work together made it so much easier to get through all of the problems in the team portion.”

Khyat  attributed the success of the Rider participants at NJUMC to the strength of the students’ character and academic determination.

“It’s a mix of persistence and genuine curiosity. They don’t just look for the easy answer, they enjoy the process of solving a difficult problem,” Khyat said. “It’s the result of students who are driven to ask, ‘why,’ professors who are there to guide them, and a department chair who fosters an environment where this kind of high-level achievement is possible.”

Khyat left the event proud of his students for their talent and willingness to challenge themselves, but overall, he was grateful for their representation of the university. 

“I want to thank them for their commitment. They represented Rider with such professionalism and enthusiasm; their teamwork was just as impressive as their final scores. It was truly a pleasure working with such a motivated group,” Khyat said.

In the future, Khyat expressed he would like to see more investment in workshops and resources that help students prepare for these high-level events to “show prospective students that this is a place where they can excel.”