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"Wir müssen wissen, wir werden wissen."

In 1900, at the International Congress of Mathematics in Paris, David Hilbert, the undisputed king of German mathematics, gave a famous speech entitled "The Mathematical Problems", in which he proposed 23 of the most important mathematical problems of the world in the nineteenth century. 30 years later, these significant speech have put agnosticism to shame in the light of science.

After 30 years, 50 years, 100 years··· When the development of science and technology moves forward at a rapid pace, and the brainpower  of human can no longer reach the limit of science, what is determining the the rules of the world? Please take this question with you and join us in this episode of student interview. G10 student of ISA Wenhua Wuhan Secondary School, Thomas Sun, would like to share his points of view.

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Closing the window and isolating himself from the hustle and bustle from the playground, a meeting with the great mathematician of Ancient Greece will begin. Although he was only in the fourth grade, Thoams's love of mathematics made him regard Euclid as his life model.

As a Chinese American, he received 6-year of authentic American early education. In most of his leisure time after school, Thomas learnt math diligently as if it was his daily routine. The enduring interest in mathematics and self-study habits made him complete the university level of mathematics in the 10th grade. Now he has the abilities to compete in international and domestic mathematical competitions, and write scientific research papers independently at the post-graduate level, which have all made remarkable achievements.

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Recently, Thomas also won the first prize in Global Academician Forum. The forum was participated by outstanding contestants from famous public schools and international schools in China, and the papers were judged by academicians from Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and other world-famous universities. The research content includes 12 hot topics in the world, such as bio-health, medicine and pharmaceutical industry, mathematics frontier and data application, which is of important research significance to the present and future development of the world.

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"Just like every student who has been showing his talents in maths since childhood, competing and preparing for exams, writing papers and then becoming a professor in an university seems to be a smooth pathway to success, but after taking part in the Forum, our Head of School, Ms. Juliana Jia told me that becoming a real mathematician should never be statisfied at the level of personal achievement, just as the original purpose of the Challenge is to select future scientists and leaders who will change the world, and who can truly give back to society in the future, which gave me a new sense of mission for my life goals." Thomas said.

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As one of the first bach of students in the ISA Wuhan High Talent Cultivation Programme, Thomas has inspired greatly from the inspiration of Ms. Juliana Jia, the Head of ISA Wuhan School. In the world of education, where academic competitions are so common, it is not always easy to protect students' interest in science and creativity and cultivate their innovative abilities from an early age.

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"ISA Wuhan has been determined to become a century-old school since its inception, and I believe that the cornerstone of a school becoming a century-old school is to create a curriculum that is truly future-oriented." Ms. Juliana said. "ISA Wuhan is committed to organize the High Talent Cultivation Programme, selecting students from the community who have special interest and talent in a particular subject, jointly led by national academicians, university professors, and master teachers of international competitions from prestigious schools around the world and in Wuhan. We are working together to set up a number of cutting-edge STEAM project laboratories to provide whole-person training across a range of disciplines, so that high school students can seamlessly connect to the education in university-level, aiming to find future scientists and leaders who can change the world."

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"Meanwhile, with the holistic education at ISA Wuhan, the students will know more about humility, kindness, respect and equality, and have a sense of mission, responsibility and ambition to return to the society. I think this is the true meaning of an international school, for the development of human civilisation to cultivate leaders of the century, practical elites, and ISA Wuhan will stirve to be an unique, century-old school to strengthen our educational vision and mission."

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When talking about what maths means to him, Thomas tells us it's an amazing subject that can solve all the world's problems, and if you think it can't, that's a problem with your life outlook. "At the time, the calculus invented by Newton and Leibniz could only be used to derive physical problems, but now it is the most indispensable way to calculate the acceleration of rockets. I believe that there are still many mathematical puzzles in this world that have not been solved, and in the future, I hope to use mathematics to study more cutting-edge knowledge about computers and intelligent manufacturing, so as to make the world and human life better."

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As a new studens this year, Thomas is the student who choose to shift from a well-known public school to an international school. His reasons for joining in ISA Wuhan were, in his words, "great minds think alike". Previously, his efforts to learning maths was no less than rushing in dark nights, and the gap between him and his peers made it all the more reasonalble for him to choose an international school with the inclusivity, freedom, education mission, abundant academic resources and excellent teachers to lead his way.

"I have never thought of myself as someone who is very obsessed with maths, but rather very curious about it, and I was lucky that my parents and schooling did a good job of protecting this curiosity when I was growing up, and after coming to ISA Wuhan, the school gave me the full support and freedom to learn at my own pace and in my own way, and at the Programme, I also met many students who have similar academic pursuits as me and are full of perseverance in their passionate subjects, which also allows me to challenge maths and myself more boldly."

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Dr. Yi Le is Thomas's homeroom teacher and the Director of High Talent Cultivation Programme. As the comprehensive instructor of this programme, he and the team of doctoral supervisors provide each students with tailor-made career development plans. From language scores, personalised course selection, STEAM challenges, research papers and guidance for future education. All of these make Thomas feel that he is one step closer to his dream school.

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"ISA Wuhan world-leading modern science labs and facilities allow me to finally have a square piece of the school where I can make my mark." Thomas told us. "My teachers not only have many years of outstanding achievements in university research, they are senior postgraduate and doctoral supervisors, but also have profound resources and experience in publishing papers in international and domestic core journals, and their mindset and attitude towards life inspire me to become even more outstanding every day. The STEAM interdisciplinary project-based learning offered by the school on Saturdays also allows me to deepen the understanding of my mathematical knowledge under the competence of different disciplines, which also helps and inspires me a lot in terms of scientific research and innovation."

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"I don't think the students selected for the Programme are all gifted." Dr. Yi Le said. "If I must say they are gifted in any way, it is their long-term focus and perseverance in what they love. I think he will be a very down-to-earth people's scientific explorer in the future and will be one of the best in any professions."

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Thomas has loved athletics since he was a child, and he told us that as soon as he joined ISA Wuhan, he was excited to sign up for the track and field school team. Having practised long-distance running since he was a child, he puts the same "toughness" he had when he was studying his academic subjects into his sports activities, and says he enjoys the sense of achievement that comes from breaking through the limits of his endurance, which is very much the same as studying. His rich interest in Chinese literature, world history and philosophy is also well released in ISA Wuhan. Even with the academic pressure, the students of the Programme are asked to take 1 to 2 courses outside their majors. As Ms. Juliana said, the spirit of science and innovation should be influenced into students' learning, life, mindset, culture and art, and ISA Wuhan will be the cradle of incubating future science and technology innovative talents.

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The shy boy who used to bury his head in solving problems, the lonely boy who used to study hard in the dark, after coming to ISA Wuhan, he has become more active in the group English speech, after-school evening tutoring, literature appreciation class and club activities, you can see Thomas has become more and more confident, more and more talkative, and it makes him more willing to use his own warmth and patience with his friends, bringing help and care to teachers and his family.

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What determines the rules of the world? I believe you may be able to come up with your own answers after reading this interview. Just like Thomas, who is actively preparing for the AMC12 Competition, it is no longer the black and white test papers or the golden medals that are arranged in his life prospect, but the unsolved scientific research problems and a series of development challenges that the world is facing. Thomas, just like his life model David Hill Burt, is storing up his strength to make changes to the world, just for that sound:

"Wir müssen wissen, wir werden wissen."