BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — Students from all over northeastern and central Pennsylvania are putting their brains to work.
More than 250 students filled a room at Bloomsburg University, laying their cards on the table for a game called "24."
"That's a fast-paced arithmetic game the kids actually practice. We have some schools that practice year-round for it. Basically, they are dealt four cards from ace to 10, and they're trying to get to a specific number," explained Lisa Lister of Bloomsburg University.
"We are practicing trying to add, subtract, multiply, and divide all of these numbers to get to 24 as fast as we can," said Armaan Mansuri from Scranton Prep.
Problem-solving doesn't get more competitive than this. Students say it's an adrenaline rush crunching the numbers.
"I think it is more of an adrenaline rush because it is a competition versus the game itself. I feel like if it was more friends, it would be more laid back, but it's a competition, and you're like really trying to win," said Mansuri.
The math competition has been a tradition at the university for years, bringing together like-minded students.
"Not everyone loves math at school, so it is really nice to be around a bunch of people who enjoy the same thing and get to experience the same thing and compete against each other for fun," said Nativity BVM student Ryliegh Sinko.
"As a math teacher, it's good to see kids who get excited about math and actually enjoy doing it, and it's not a chore all of the time," said Kristopher Bet from Mahanoy Area.
At the end of the game, Central Mountain was the winning team. Wyoming Seminary took second place.
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