I googled “Marbles in Triangles”, followed by “Sequences and Patterns with Marbles”. I kept searching over and over, using every possible configuration of the question I could conjure up in my 12 year old brain in a feeble attempt to find the correct answer online. I was desperate to earn the extra credit points from Mrs. Liao’s math class so that I would attain that coveted A+. I spent the whole weekend struggling with it, toiling away at it, lashing out against it. Alas, it was of no use. I made no progress. At that moment, that moment when I had fallen into the deep yawning chasm of despair, that moment when I had lost all hope, something magically clicks. The world suddenly opens up and I was on top of it all. That sense of satisfaction
