Anna: My name is Anna, I live in France. This is my third EGMO and I’m 17 years old.

Mireia: Now that the examination days are over, I’m really curious to know what your thoughts are on the problems that you got this year.

A: I was quite astonished that there was almost no combinatorics, or at least not in a very obvious form. In our preparation we had a lot of combinatorics in here we have not so much. But I wouldn’t say that I was sad about that. I thought this year’s problems were somehow maybe more original because we used to have more classical programs in the years before. Here, there was a tendency to something more unusual. I was a little bit surprised about the first day because I didn’t solve the second problem during my exam. But then when I saw it afterwards, I found it was quite easier than the first one. I was really happy to have the opportunity to participate in a contest. I will miss the olympiads and solving nice problems.

M: Because is this your last year?

A: Yes, it’s my last year. I hope to stay connected with the Olympiad movement, maybe by inventing some problems later on.

M: Well, the good thing is that there’s so many people that are involved in organizing an event like the EGMO. Many volunteers are needed so definitely check it out if you want. There are so many ways in which you can get involved with the problems or being a guide.

Since your last EGMO has been this special EGMO. Which things have you felt are different from other years in which things have stayed the same?

A: It was very different from other years because we had to write it at home. It was not really obvious how you would get into this atmosphere of an examination, because normally you get in the room and you all are over the very concentrated. Here you have to find a place where you still have this feeling of a contest. What we did is to change the atmosphere in my room. I have a bed that can turn into a sofa, which we did to make it more study-like.

It was a pity we didn’t get the opportunity to travel. Spring is supposed to be wonderful. But if you prepared for it you could get into the feeling of a contest, to write the olympiad.

M: Did you have any help from your family to get into this mindset? Yesterday I spoke to a contestant who didn’t have to do any cleaning or dishes during the EGMO. Did you have something like this?

A: We decided to clean up the room in the morning to have it be nice when I was writing the contest in the afternoon. It was nice to have a very clean room for the exams.

I don’t have any brothers or sisters who could disturb me. So it wasn’t difficult to organize a silent environment.

M: Good, sounds like you had a nice, quiet, concentrated environment to write the tests then. That was all I wanted to ask.

A: My message for the other contestants is that I wish everyone to not be bored, to find ways to entertain themselves by doing math or by doing some activities connected to EGMO. Just enjoy yourself.

M: Great thank you so much. Are you planning to participate in some other EGMO activities before the closing ceremony?

A: I have participated in the radio EGMO, that was very nice. I will see what I will do next.

M: Thank you for your kindness to participate in this interview and for being enthusiastic about the EGMO in these special circumstances.

A: Thanks very much for everything.

M: Bye Anna.

By Sophie