Falcon Focus: The new Albert Gu? Freshman exceeds expectations in math

There are always certain freshmen each year who are able to skip ahead in math to Trigonometry/Precalculus, but jumping to AP Calculus BC or even AB is almost unheard of.
Landon Chow is the rare exception who has managed to make the leap. In fact, he is the only freshman to take AP Calculus BC this year.

As an eighth grader, he took Trigonometry/Pre-calculus Honors at the high school, which gave him the opportunity to become friends with many older students such as senior Alex Amato and junior Jerrick Fong.

The upperclassmen view Chow as a friend and a fun addition to their classes.

“He really has an unique viewpoint on things, being so new to the high school. I think it is interesting to see him interact with older students,” said Amato, who is in the same AP Calculus BC class as Chow. “Landon provides a unique outlook in the math classroom compared to his classmates.”

Although Chow is most well known for his proficiency in math, he is also part of the speech and debate team and trains for triathlons.

“I just bike a lot all over; I wanted to do some go to San Francisco Bay to do some open water [swimming]. I try to bike every day, even though [the day is] really busy,” Chow said.

Chow also is determined to excel in not only athletics and academics, but in speech and debate as well.

He participates in both parts of the speech and debate, domestic extemporaneous, where one is given a random topic regarding domestic policies a few minutes before the competition, and policy debate, which is a one-person event where a call for a change in U.S. policy is addressed.

“[Speech and debate] is actually a lot of fun; I actually like it,” Chow said.

Chow also participates in the math club and tutors students from Redwood Middle School as part of the math club mentoring program. Additionally, he competes in mathematics competitions such as the AMC and AIME tests.

His top accomplisment in such competitions occured when he qualified for the USMATS (United States of America Mathematical Talent Search) in seventh grade.

Chow chose to accelerate himself through the math program from a young age, following the footsteps of his older sister, junior Amanda Chow. Although he does not always enjoy math, he is determined to do well in AP Calculus BC despite how difficult it is.

He also will continue his mathematics education at West Valley next year with more advanced courses such as multi-dimensional calculus.

This ambition has allowed him to excel in many different areas.

Some students consider Chow to be the next Albert Gu, who was the school’s resident math legend up until Gu’s graduation with the Class of 2011, but he sees himself as more than a math whiz.

“Freshman year is really busy and different from middle school and there are many other things I want to try out [besides math],” said Chow.