As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Simeon Stefanovic, a second-grade student at the High School of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Rijeka, has participated in state competitions sixteen times so far and is a two-time state champion in mathematics and informatics.
He started going to competitions from the second grade of primary school, and this year he also participated in the Moscow-based Mathematical Tournament of Cities, which was held online due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Then, Simeon solved Radon’s theorem in a way that no one has managed so far.
“We were given a set of problems, including Radon’s theorem. I didn’t know it was something that was complicated for many people. I solved it in a way that no one has solved it yet. I did it in a much easier way that is understandable to many, and I received special praise from Moscow for that,” Simeon Stefanovic said for Novi list.
From the age of two he was able to fluently to ten in three languages, and from the age of four he knew the whole multiplication table. Back in elementary school, he solved maths problems from the state graduation exam.
“When I was in the third grade of primary school, the media wrote about the maths task from the state graduation exam, which was a big problem for the graduates. My mum read it to me, and I solved it without paper and pen. In the eighth grade, I went on to solve higher-level maths problems from the state exams for fun,” he said.
He is actually bored at school because the material he is learning has long since been easy for him, and it has been like that since the very first day of his schooling because he started first grade with the knowledge of arithmetic, multiplication, and of course reading and writing.
”These competitions deal with material that isn’t taught or dealt with at school and additional work is needed. It takes a lot of will, time and desire. It’s a well-known fact that the Croatian school system does not recognise gifted children. They aren’t worked with and are mostly left to fend for themselves. Only those who have the will and desire to work alone survive,” he concluded.
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