Davin Makris, winner of the 2022 Campbell Naismith Mathematics Award from Chula Vista High School donated through the generosity of Chang Lee.

Pictured from left to right: Colin Naismith, Davin Macias, and Chang Lee.

1. As a high school student you involved yourself in many mathematics courses and activities –
what were your reasons and inspirations for doing so? How did you manage and integrate the
coursework with other school and life activities?
At first it was a matter of pride and ego to challenge myself to take difficult classes but I
quickly found myself ingrained in a community of like minded students who sought to support
one another. I made genuine friends in many of my classes that I would be able to have fun with
and do homework at the same time. I would often “gamify” my homework and do things like play
video games with my friends, but every death we would do a math problem. Activities like this
would supplement my more ordered study time. With all things considered, the study time was
not that serious either. Late night study sessions would be filled with cracking jokes with friends
and casually encouraging one another that we could finish our work. By surrounding myself with
people who wanted to succeed, I found myself more motivated to succeed.
2. As a new university student or employed worker, how does your high school mathematics
experience fit with and support the university or work environment?
Having a strong mathematical foundation has definitely helped propel me in university.
The math classes I have taken in highschool have made my college courses feel like review.
Practicing my study habits in highschool has helped ease the transition into college level
classes. My AP Calculus and Statistics classes especially have fulfilled some of my general
education requirements and taught me valuable reasoning skills.
3. What advice would you give to current high school students that would help them increase
their personal probability of success
I would encourage students to take risks to better understand their own limits. I think that
high school is the perfect proving ground for you to learn things about yourself. Challenge
yourself in your early years of high school so you can build the skills it takes to succeed. That
being said, your Junior and Senior years are really hard. Studying for SATs and applying to
college will stretch your time thin. Be ready to be mature and critically think about how you want
to schedule these years. Your physical and mental health are really important and forgetting to
care for yourself can very easily jeopardize your future. To put it briefly: Drink water, eat healthy,
exercise in sunlight, sleep plenty and have fun with your friends.