For the sixth year in a row, a Saint Kentigern student has been selected onto the New Zealand team of six mathematicians to attend the prestigious International Mathematics Olympiad (IM0), to be held, this year, in England.
The Olympiad gathers the best secondary school mathematicians from around the world to compete in a series of very challenging mathematical problems from almost any field of mathematics.
Year 12 student Grace Chang, the only girl on the team, will join fellow team members from schools around New Zealand to travel to Bath, UK in July.
Grace follows in the footsteps of Saint Kentigern students, Kevin Shen (2014-2016) and Andrew Chen (2016-2018) who have also represented New Zealand on the team, with both boys selected for the 2016 team. Andrew played a significant role in mentoring Grace for her best chance at selection.
Grace has a particular passion for mathematics and started this year being awarded NZQA Scholarships in both calculus and statistics. She was only Year 11 when she sat these exams intended for Year 13 graduates
Whilst focused on academic achievement, Grace also has a wide spectrum of interests and involves herself in all facets of school life from premier debating to swimming and cross country.
Grace attended her first camp in 2018, where she was selected to the squad and finished 8th.
“Before my first camp last year, I had always viewed maths as something I was good at but didn’t fully understand the depth of. The Olympiad camp opened me up to a whole world of maths that I never really knew about.”
