Up until this year the highest math course offered at Battlefield was Calculus BC, but now there is a new top dog in town: Multivariable Calculus. Only seven students are qualified to take the course in its inaugural year here; that is the best indicator of just how high this level of math is. Battlefield did not even have a teacher who is qualified to teach this course, the administration had to hire someone from the Governor’s School at George Mason University to solely teach this class: Mrs. Joyave. It is a new experience for all involved.

The idea for this class to be offered at Battlefield was first brought up two years ago to all sophomores who were taking Functions and Analytical Geometry at the time. Students who wanted to were offered the ability to skip Calculus AB and go right into BC so that they could possibly take Multivariable Calculus their senior year. A select few who were excelling in Functions and Analytical Geometry decided to take this path. Now even fewer remain to actually reach the final destination.

Having such a small and exclusive class size can really change the classroom dynamic. Senior Jack Lynam, who is taking Multivariable Calculus, says, “Being in such a small class where everyone knows each other, it is very easy to ask questions and not feel like you’re under a magnifying glass.” Lynam relates it to almost like getting private tutoring.

Multivariable Calculus is not a required class for graduation, so all of the students enrolled in the course are taking it of their own free will. Senior Mason Marche is another one of the seven enrolled in the course. Marche plans on majoring in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) degree in college. Marche says, “I figured that having a high level math course would look better on applications and make the college courses that I wanna take after easier.” These two reasons are why the majority of the students who have chosen to take this path made their decision.

Senior Tae Lee is yet another member of this exclusive group. Lee’s reasons for taking the class are almost exactly the same as Marche’s, as Lee is looking to pursue a career in engineering. Besides its benefits in that regard, Lee also says, “It is also an interesting class in general as well. I did not know math gets so weird.” All of the kids taking the course enjoy the material at least a little bit, they have to or else it would just be brutal.

This year even more kids have decided to skip AB, a promising sign for the continuance of this new math class. The math department hopes that interest will remain high so the class can continue to exist in the coming years at Battlefield.