Meet Alex, a diligent second-year mathematics student at the University of Waterloo. Growing up in a small town, they always excelled in school, but the competitive atmosphere at university has been a wake-up call. After a grueling exam where the class average plummeted, Alex felt a mix of frustration and empathy for their peers—hence the sharp observation about the failure rate. With a passion for data analysis, they often reflect on class dynamics as they juggle their studies and work in a co-op position analyzing student performance trends.