Student Spotlight

Student+Spotlight

Emily Shipman, Writer

Cooper Lucas is a freshman at Midlothian Heritage High School. He is an intelligent
student, considering he is in pre-ap algebra II as a freshman. In fact, he is so smart and has
such an interest in numbers that he decided to memorize the digits in pi. Pi is a continuing
decimal number that is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. The number is
unending, so it would be impossible to memorize the whole thing, but Cooper has impressively
memorized more than the average person.

“It was seventh-grade year at Walnut Grove, and we had focus. I didn’t have a lot of
homework. One day I heard about pi and just decided to start learning it. In a month in a half, I
learned over 250 digits. I’ve lost some over the years, but to this point, I have a little over a
hundred,” said Cooper Lucas.

There was not much to do during focus in middle school, because most students didn’t
have homework. They just chose to slack off by getting on their phones and talking to their
friends, but Cooper decided to make good use out of his time.

“I was just bored, and there was nothing else to do,” he said.

It is already out of the norm for a student to learn so many digits of a number, but pi isn’t
the only math-related topic Cooper seems to be interested in. He is intrigued by all things
associated with arithmetic. Not only that, but math comes without difficulty for him unlike most.

“I love the subject of math. It has always come easily to me, so I naturally enjoy it.
Seeing the relationships between numbers have always fascinated me,” he said

When Cooper grows up, his intelligence in this subject could be put to use in many
different careers. He would be a great asset to any job like engineering, architecture, or jobs
that involve calculating money. As for most other students his age, he does not know what he
wants to be, but he knows it will involve math.

“As of right now, I do not know what career path that I want to go down. The career
paths that I want to indulge in are engineering, business, or even a combination of the two,” he
said.

He does, however, have a broad idea of what type of engineer he wants to be as an
adult, proving that he has given some thought to his future.

“If I were to be an engineer, I would probably want to be an automotive, computer, or
mechanical engineer,” he said.