The National Mathematics Summer School (NMSS) was truly an amazing experience. With seventy-seven unique students, each with an interest in mathematics, meeting in Canberra at one of the best universities in the nation made for a unique environment and made you want to learn as much mathematics as you could. Staying in dorm style accommodation on ANU’s campus meant that we got to see just how nice the campus is. It also gave us an insight into what it is like staying in dorm style accommodation.

The academic course itself was extremely interesting with a focus on mathematical discovery. This meant that what we would get taught during lectures, would lead us onto many other paths to discover through the problem sets. The mathematics that you are introduced to during NMSS is unlike anything that you get taught throughout school. You have a lecture with the entire group of students where you get introduced to some mathematics, then go into your tutorial groups, where there are eight students to one tutor. There you get given a problem set for each tutorial session that helps guide your discovery of the mathematics that was introduced during the lecture. There were also study sessions each night that were used to complete more questions on the problem sets.

A few other things that I really enjoyed about the experience were:

- The guest lectures: I thought they were so informative about things such as, the opportunities/pathways that mathematics can offer you, how mathematics can be used in the workplace, and how unbelievably endless the field of mathematics truly is.

-  The staff and tutors: They all had such interesting and diverse pathways that mathematics had taken them on, and they were all so kind as to share their own experiences. I found it truly fascinating listening to what some of the staff and tutors had done through mathematics.

-  The fact that we were in Canberra: I really liked the fact that we could explore the city during our free time.

In the lead up to the summer school I started to become very unsure as to what the two weeks was going to be like. Then after a long day of travelling (due to cancelled flights), I was really questioning if I was going to enjoy the experience. As everyday passed by the summer school seemed to somehow keep getting better and better. I can now honestly say that the summer school became by far the best academic experience of my life.

Now, after having some time to reflect on the experience, I have realised how amazing the experience truly was. I have also come to realise how incredibly fortunate I am to have been given such an incredible opportunity. I am extremely grateful, and I truly would recommend the summer school to anybody that is interested in mathematics. To anyone that is considering applying, I cannot recommend NMSS enough.

By Xavier