There is a saying that success breeds success. This is certainly true for grade 4 student Aritra Guha who won, for the second year in a row, a gold ‘top-scorer’ award in the Singapore International Math Olympiad Challenge (SIMOC) held on 15 July 2017 at CIS’ Lakeside campus.

Back in April, Aritra was one of our Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO) gold medal winners, and like all SASMO medal winners, he was invited to participate in SIMOC over the summer. 1200 students from over 20 countries participated in this well known regional competition.

Aritra surpassed his performance last year, ending as top-scorer, tied with four other candidates in his age category. According to his father, Utpal Guha, Aritra loves to solve challenging math problems and looks for mind boggling puzzles on a regular basis. Aritra’s mum, Priyanka Guha, makes sure that he spends some time every day practicing math and Aritra keeps asking for more difficult challenges.

Aritra’s homeroom teacher, Ms Alison, has been instrumental in his math success and acted as a great mentor who has helped him thrive. She did not necessarily focus on SASMO/SIMOC preparation but rather, took the time to understand Aritra and to appreciate his strengths. She offered guidance to keep him motivated and focused on his academic goals, in math and other subjects.

While many of us would be happy to be a mathlete, it’s not enough for Aritra. He is also a promising violin player, a karateka (karate athlete) with a brown belt and an enthusiastic arts student at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).

Well done Aritra. Your commitment and dedication to pursuing excellence in a number of areas is inspiring. We are very proud of you and your achievements, and wish you all the best in your journey to mathematical excellence.