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At left, students Zeng Minyu (left), Cai Shujun (center) and Jiang
Yizhi practiced their presentation for the Shing Tung Yau High School Mathematics
Awards in Beijing, which was attended by Harvard's admissions dean.
Many officials from premier American universities are trying to recruit
students from China who might otherwise dismiss the schools as unattainable.
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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Shujun (left), Yizhi (center), and Minyu gave their presentation for
the Mathematics Award competition in Beijing. One team, again comprised
of high school students, devised an algorithm to ease traffic in Beijing's
famously crowded roads.
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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The first Shing-Tung Yau High School Mathematics Awards drew almost
one thousand students from all corners of China. The finalists, 40 out
of the 900 who took part, prepared for six months for the competition.
Student Yang Changbo made his presentation to the judges, which included
three Harvard professors.
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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Parents and teachers were banned from the conference room where the
competition took place. One man took pictures of the students through a
glass door in the plush 5-star hotel.
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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Professor Shing-Tung Yau, chairman of Harvard’s math department who
conceived of last month's competition, met with students at the event.
Yau hoped to funnel a generation of Chinese high school students into
America’s premiere colleges.
“With the help of mathematics and scholarships I finished my education
in the United States,?said Yau, 59, who is considered one of the world’s
greatest mathematicians. “I also want to help the very poorest students
in China make their dreams come true.?
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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The Shing Tung Yau High School Mathematics Awards were given to students
who were the most creative and collaborative in their findings. Lin Zhongqiao
(left), Yang Chango (center), and Lang Xubin posed for photos with their
awards.
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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The team of Li Taibo (Tiger) is a prime example of a well-rounded candidate
for an elite college. He ranked in the top 10 out of his 750-student class.
He also plays badminton, soccer, heads the Model United Nations team, and
was elected president of his 4,000-student school.
Tiger's project, which his partner Zhao Xinyue (right) helped present,
was a mathematical study of adjusting the angles of windows in the room
to maximize the amount of air flow into the room.
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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Tiger spoke to Sarah Clark Donahue, the Harvard Director of Financial
Aid.
Tiger has been a huge fan of Harvard. He says that "Harvard is so beautiful
compared to the campuses of Chinese universities. I want to go because
it is said that schools in the United States inspire you to think, instead
of just teaching you what to do."
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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Although Tiger was not one of the recipients of the award, he said
he just wanted to know "how I can improve.?
The next morning, a Saturday, Tiger spent three hours learning about
number theory, "just for fun," he said.
After the presentation, Tiger relaxed in his hotel room.
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |
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Tiger walked with his father, Li Chengyi, in his school's neighborhood
in Beijing. He hopes that one day he will attend Harvard, saying: “I want
to turn the impossible into the possible."
(Doug Kanter for the Boston Globe) |