Ahhhh, Pi Day 2025. On March 12th, (in case you didn’t know the third digit to pi is actually 2) the whole school gathered to be reminded of the great capacity of Evan Park’s mind. But we mustn’t forget about the other contestants: Devan Fayock ’25, Matilda Yang ’27, and Marcus Ost ’27. WT Voices sat with each contestant (over email) to get their first-hand accounts of their performance and their strategies. For the first time ever, these interviews have been released to the public.

NOTE: Evan Park refused to comment.

What inspired you to sign up for the competition?

• Matilda Yang: “A mysterious culprit signed my name using an unerasable colored pencil on the Pi Day sign-up sheet. I crossed it out and told Mr. Davidson, but he approached me a week before the competition and told me that all original names written on the sheet would be called up to participate. I was reluctant, but he persuaded me with the idea of a very rare black and white t-shirt (even though I made the point that black and white doesn’t compliment my complexion). Accepting my fate, I convinced Marcus to join me.”
• Devan Fayock: “I didn’t, I was opted in by someone else who signed me up.”
• Marcus Ost: “I was really inspired by Matilda, she said ‘hey! Let’s do this pi day thing together!’ And I said of course! I’m always down for some good ol’ pi reciting. I was also inspired by Pi day itself, I’m thinking to myself, why isn’t pi just 3? But no! Pi said go big or go home and that’s inspiring.”

How did you study?

• Matilda Yang: “I memorized all 50 digits the night before, and grouped them in fours.”
• Devan Fayock: “I studied by looking at a paper with the first 1,000 digits while in class on the day of, just before the recitation. I mostly focused on trying to memorize patterns within that short time.”
• Marcus Ost: “I only knew like three digits of pi, but in the class right before morning meeting I focused up and just memorized all 50 digits. What helped was pointing out patterns like years and phone numbers within the digits.”

Tell me about your performance.

• Matilda Yang: “Our performance went surprisingly well, considering that when I texted Marcus at 11 pm on Tuesday he said, “I’m in the process”.  We hadn’t rehearsed at all, and I barely made it there in time. Apparently I stressed Mr. Davidson out, and he was on a one sided phone call with me at some point??”
• Devan Fayock: “Definitely rough, but I think I could get around 50 digits if I was writing it on paper and not reciting verbally.”
• Marcus Ost: “I kept forgetting the numbers but it is said we had great chemistry“

Who is your biggest inspiration?

• Matilda Yang: “My biggest inspiration is a close race between Gandhi and Evan Park. Although I think I’ll give it to Evan. Sure, Gandhi fought for world peace, but I don’t think he had 500+ digits of pi memorized.”
• Devan Fayock: “No idea but in terms of digit recitation, Evan Park is up there.”
• Marcus Ost: “Probably Einstein.”

Why is pi an important number?

• Matilda Yang: “Pi is an important number because when said out loud, you can easily identify what kind of person someone is based on their association with it. Are they in a sorority? Are they hungry? Or, are they a super cool Pi Day Recitation enthusiast?”
• Devan Fayock: “Pi is an important number because it is used to evaluate the precise measurement of a circle. I think it is especially cool that no matter the size of the circle, the value of pi itself never changes.”
• Marcus Ost: “Because if it weren’t for pi, we wouldn’t even know how big circles are.”

What’s your favorite flavor of pie?

• Matilda Yang: “Southern Caramel Pecan Pie. I’ve never been able to find a good one north.”
• Devan Fayock: “Oreo Pie”
• Marcus Ost: “Gonna have to go with apple.”

What advice do you have for aspiring pi-digit recitation competitors?

• Matilda Yang: “If you memorize a digit every day for a year, you still won’t beat Evan Park.”
• Devan Fayock: “Don’t wait until the class before to study and do it for the shirt.”
• Marcus Ost: “My advice is to never give up.  if you dream it, you gotta work hard and grind till you own it. And if that means giving up the last few minutes of class to memorize pi, I’m all for it.”