‘Just an average guy who’s good at maths’
ST Andrew’s College’s Nicholas Kroon, 18, says he is just a regular matric who enjoys sport and reading and is working hard in preparation for his final matric exams.
But there is one key thing that sets Kroon apart from his peers: he is a maths whiz and his performance history in both the local and international maths Olympiads is testament to that.
Ask Kroon what it is that sets him apart from his fellow matrics, and he will humbly tell you “nothing”; but take a look at his academic history and it is clear that Kroon is a gifted mathematician. Not only did he recently score full marks in his prelim maths exam, but he made the top 10, competed in the annual South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO) since Grade 8 and represented South Africa at the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) for the past two years.
But what makes him so good at maths? Kroon modestly admits that “it just comes naturally” but that is not the whole story. Yes, it is true that there may be a natural inclination towards maths considering that Kroon’s father is a maths teacher, but Kroon also spends many hours a week practicing difficult maths problems to perfect his problem-solving abilities.
Indeed, says Kroon, this is one of the things he enjoys most about taking part in SAMO every year. “School maths is mostly mechanical,” he explained. “You just need to understand how to solve the equations, SAMO is different. It requires a lot of creative thinking to tackle a problem and is not nearly as straightforward as the maths problems at school.”
Problem solving is something Kroon has spent a vast amount of time honing his skills at lately as preparations for the six pupils who made up Team SA for IMO, hosted in Hong Kong in July 2016, began back in December 2015.
It was a lot of work, says Kroon, and a lot of fun as well. “In the10 days we were in Hong Kong, we managed to see many sites and had the opportunity to make new friends who share a similar interest.” This, he says is refreshing, as many people view people who are good at maths as weird. But Kroon says he “just a normal guy who enjoys all the things other people do and that you do not have to be weird to be good at maths”.
While participating in events like SAMO and IMO is not easy – Kroon admits that he sometimes has no idea how to start a problem – he loves the feeling of finishing a problem. However, this is something Kroon says throws many young people at school: “Pupils often lack confidence in their ability to solve a problem, this makes them see this critical subject as ‘difficult’ but luckily this is something that gets easier the more you practice”.
Maths is an essential gateway subject that is essential for opening up scarce-skill careers in medicine, aviation, engineering, accounting and more. Speaking about careers, when asked what he will be putting his keen mathematical mind towards next year, Kroon shyly confessed that “I have not quite figured that out yet but I’ll probably pursue a BSc with majors in both maths and computer science.” IT was a day of singing and dancing, as well as an opportunity for folk from all around the Marselle area to meet and catch up on happenings, at the Old Age in Sport and Library Event, held at the community hall last week.
About 150 elderly people turned up to the event that began with a walk from the nearby recreational park to the hall, where residents had set up stands to sell their wares. There was also a HIV/Aids stand, where residents could receive free status reports.
Programme director for the day, councillor Vivian Maphaphu, who is also the Ndlambe council’s speaker, was animated as she introduced the day’s activities to the residents. At the turn of every speaker, the women from Marselle stood and began a rousing chorus, and even some of the dignitaries on the stage descended to the floor to participate in the dancing.
The idea of the day was to show that senior citizens were still useful to the community, and that the Ndlambe Municipality wanted to ensure they were kept in good health, fed, and lived under shelter.
There were also performances from the service centre as well as the Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet) beneficiaries.
Ndlambe mayor Phindile Faxi was also present and made the keynote address.
Before lunch the residents were invited to play games such as rugby throw, goal shooting and passing the ball.
At the end of the day the residents were treated to lunch.