Faith Odunsi, a Nigerian teenager, won the Global Open Mathematics competition and will receive $1000 at the official ceremony. 15-year-old Faith is from the West African nation.
She emerged as the victor of the competition with 40 points and beat other contestants from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States.
Faith attends the Ambassadors School, Ota Ogun State, and is in her final year at the high school. She didn’t let her preparation for the tournament get in the way of her school studies. In fact, the Ambassador’s School is known for investing in students who take part in competitions. The school holds extra classes and trains students to solve mathematical equations mentally with minimal or no errors. Faith also dedicated time from 11pm to midnight, to study for the tournament.
This is not her first time competing in an academic tournament. She set a record by answering 19 questions in seconds in the Cowbellpedia competition and has taken part in the national Olympiad since junior high school.
“I have also taken part in Kangourou Sans Frontieres, South African mathematics Olympiad, American Mathematics Competition, and Pan-African mathematics Olympiad. For the national Olympiad, I was made the Queen of Mathematics from JSS3 to SS2,” Faith told Punch. “For the South African Mathematics Olympiad, I got medals. I got a silver medal in the Pan-African mathematics Olympiad in 2019. I was also made an ambassador of my school.”
Faith attests that mathematics is her favorite subject. She said, “It is about using your brains and basic logical reasoning.” The 15-year-old also claims that she got her love of math from her father, who’s a medical doctor. Both of her parents are proud of her accomplishments.
The young scholar wishes to obtain a degree in Computer Engineering abroad. But, she has other interests besides academics. Faith also likes sports, movies, reading, and spending time with her friends.
Positive World Online 