turning back time by Ellie F. '28

I spent this past summer⁠01 and also the summer before that at Canada/USA Mathcamp, where I lived five weeks in Tacoma, Washington doing some math and a lot of camp. Mickey Mouse™ won’t tell you this, but Mathcamp actually beats Disney as the most magical place on Earth.

With a name like Mathcamp, you’d assume we do a lot of math. And you’re not wrong. But everyone can choose exactly how much and what type of math they do, and as a serious and dignified mathematician myself, I’ve learned to solve quadratics with origami, use the Axiom of Choice to win infinite games against evil kings⁠02 An evil king makes his five advisors play a game. They are locked into five separate identical rooms, each with an infinite number of boxes. Each box contains a real number, and each of the advisors must open all but one box and guess the number inside. If at most one advisor is wrong, then the advisors win. Otherwise, they DIE. The advisors can create a strategy beforehand. How can they ensure that they win? , make mathy sculptures and embroidery, and become a master at advanced chickenology.

born to slurp slurp, forced to become five interlocking tetrahedra

embroidered this mathcamp shirt! (the white details are printed on I didn't make that)

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But we do a lot more than just math (gasp!). Let me tell you a story.

1. A story

One normal day, after my second class, I was very hungry and walking to the cafeteria. Suddenly, I was struck by divine inspiration, as does often happen when I am hungry and near cafeterias. Don’t believe me? I have proof.

Evidence 1: they put more bones in ??!?

Evidence 2: I learned the Canadian National Anthem in the lunch line using this Wikipedia page

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On this day, I was wondering why clocks go the wrong way. I mean, any real mathematician knows that counterclockwise is the positive direction, right? I immediately decided it was too difficult a task to actually reverse the clock, but I did have another brilliant plan. I’ve outlined it in this image:

violence → ??? → profit!

2. they did surgery on a clock

The actual product was much cleaner. After we journeyed 40 minutes (and broke and superglued one shoe) to buy the clock from Walmart⁠03 ARKANSAS MENTIONED!! , we decided to disassemble it and get our hands on the clock’s internal organs with all the confidence of an improv artist pretending to be a surgeon.

Turns out, the clock has a permanent magnet that, when reversed, makes it perfectly counterclockwise. Rejoice! The next day, I created a custom face for the clock, one that started with 0 on the x-axis and went in the counterclockwise direction. We hung it up in the main lounge for the world to see, and a few days later, our work caught the notice of Eric, one of the camp directors. He proposed to us a business venture.

look at my son

we dismantled this guy in a dimly lit stairway like any good surgeon

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3. ⚠️TRADE OFFER ⚠️

Every year, Mathcampers can order shirts, and some years, money may also be exchanged for other goods and services, such as frisbees or bucket hats. What if this year, we sold special Mathcamp 2024 Counterclocks? We jumped at the offer, even though it would cost dearly in our own labor. To advertise our product, we wrote a live infomercial to present in front of the entire camp.

In all, over 120 clocks were ordered. In fact, demand was so high that we bought out the entire supply of red clocks from the nearest Walmart, prompting the Counterclock Cabal to have no choice but to ransack all the other Walmarts nearby. But just buying the clocks was the easiest part.

4. The children YEARN for the mines clock factory

Now, we actually had to make the clock. We sent out a call for help by posting on the schedule board⁠04 the schedule board is a beautiful mess of event announcements in the form of construction paper signs with varying levels of artistry , and when it was time, a dozen Mathcampers descended upon the crafts lounge like vultures hungry for unpaid labor.

the job listing

We started by cutting out 8-inch diameter custom clock faces and cardstock. By the time we were done, we had piles and piles of hand-cut confetti. Then came the reversing itself. Eric had optimized every step of the process, down to the last screw. We even created a playlist featuring songs like “I’ve Had the Time of my Life,” “Time after Time,” and “Rock Around the Clock.” The first session ended up reversing 82 clocks, and after the second session, we had boxes and boxes filled with 128 certified Mathcamp Counterclocks.

5. I am a Serious and Dignified mathematician

I was blown away by the support and enthusiasm for the counterclocks, that a stupid idea I had one day could become actual, paid-for items in dozens and dozens of households. This is what I love about Mathcamp—any silly, strange, or otherwise unrealistic idea or event or project is not only allowed but actively encouraged and loved. That’s what let us enforce curfew on staff with Nerf guns and alarm the rest of campus by descending upon the dining hall like a flamboyance of flamingos. That’s why we made liquid nitrogen ice cream every week and went star tripping, staring at the sky and spinning until we fell down onto the wet grass. That’s how I got a fifth of Mathcamp to dress up as wizards and ended up running through Seattle trying to go to as many Starbucks as I could in 30 minutes. 

Mathcamp’s spirit makes me want to dream more, and to actually do and create the things I dream about. My Counterclock now ticks away in my dorm room, sitting with the Kermit puppet I made and performed with at Mathcamp cabaret, and the Boeing 787 model I bought at the Boeing factory field trip. Maybe it can’t actually reverse time and take me back to last summer, but it reminds me that this magic exists independently of camp, and that it’s something that I can seek out and create and grow here at MIT.