CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Zixian Wei of Charlottetown says she likes adding advanced material to her regular high school math “because the class work is too easy”.
Zixian was always one of the top math students among her peers while growing up in Yangzhou, China.
Her mastery of math did not slip in the slightest after moving to Prince Edward Island in 2016.
She has simply made a mockery of the subject each year at Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown, earning a 99 per cent average in Grade 10, 100 per cent in Grade 11, 99.4 per cent in her first semester in Grade 12 and 98 per cent in her second semester.
Blair MacEwen, department head for math at Colonel Gray, describes Zixian as the most accomplished math student he has seen in his seven years at the high school.
Zixian, 17, also has the distinction now of being the only P.E.I. student ever to compete for Math Team Canada.
Every year the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) hosts the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge in schools and private schools across Canada. From those results, four girls are selected for Math Team Canada.
This year, Zixian was selected along with three other students – two from Ontario and one from Alberta – to compete in the European Girls Mathematical Olympiad in Kiev, Ukraine.
Zixian earned honourable mention for her impressive personal performance.
“The CMS is immensely proud of Zixian and her success in representing Canada and P.E.I. on the international stage. We hope Zixian is able to encourage other girls in P.E.I. and other smaller communities to participate in mathematical competitions.’’
- Termeh Kousha
“The CMS is immensely proud of Zixian and her success in representing Canada and P.E.I. on the international stage,’’ says CMS executive director Termeh Kousha.
“We hope Zixian is able to encourage other girls in P.E.I. and other smaller communities to participate in mathematical competitions.’’
Zixian, who considers herself very competitive, is proud of her performance in Kiev.
She says the “logic part of math’’ is most appealing to her in a subject she simply devours.
After waltzing through class work, tests and assignments, she puts plenty of time, energy and smarts into far more advanced mathematics.
Zixian, also an accomplished ping pong player, loves to read, which she does “very, very fast’’ in Chinese. In addition, she has participated in many math contests and became the provincial champion of Fermat in 2018. Fermat is a contest that provides an opportunity for students to have fun and to develop their mathematical problem-solving ability.
“Her success is very much a testament to the work she puts into it,’’ says MacEwen.
Zixian has been accepted to McGill University on a $5,000 per year scholarship that she earned on the strength of academic achievement and an essay.
She anticipates going straight into second year university via the advanced placement exam.
She will be studying physics and physiology and hopes to carve out a career either as a physics researcher or as a doctor.
