As you read this, Macleans College student is in Russia as part of the New Zealand team at the first International Economics Olympiad.
Barely had Yang Fan Yun returned from Tanzania after representing New Zealand at the International Biology Olympiad that he was preparing for an Economics Olympiad in Moscow from September 13 to 24.
“The International Biology Olympiad was held in Iran this year but due to political sanctions, student representatives from five countries including the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand went instead to Tanzania and Malawi to carry out ecological research,” says Yang Fan, days prior to taking off to Russia.
Yang Fan will have less than a week to unpack his bags from his international sojourn, before the ace debater heads off to Hawaii.
“I’ve had this opportunity to represent New Zealand for debating at the Global Tourism Summit in Honolulu, Hawaii, to be held from September 30 to October 5,” he says. “I am one of the two Macleans College students on the team.”
It’s not just international travel that takes up all his time.
The 17-year-old is allowed to take Wednesday’s off school because he is doing an internship as a research assistant at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland.
“I’m part of a community research project to do with molecular biology. It’s still at its introductory stage,” he says.
The young go-getter is also an active part of the Howick Youth Council.
“We’ve spearheaded an event to give 20 high school students in Howick an opportunity to get their First Aid Certificate free of charge,” he says.
Yang Fan is an accomplished musician and plays the cello for two of the school orchestras.
So how does he find time to participate and excel at so many activities?
He gives credit to his mum who nurtured a love for learning at an early age.
“Parents shouldn’t push their children but inculcate in them a growth mindset. Mental health is a big issue and it is important to be happy and pursue all the things you love doing,” he says.
He also believes that success doesn’t revolve in the classroom and “natural talent doesn’t have too much to do with excelling at things”.
Case in point is learning how to play the cello. “I wasn’t a great cello player but in my free time I used to watch YouTube videos and learn,” he says.
The secret he says is hard work with a bit of luck as well as taking a keen interest in different things and being aware of various opportunities available.
As I write this, there is a small note from Yang Fan saying, “If you are interested, I found out today that I also came first out of 2500 students around the country in the New Zealand Economics Competition held by the University of Auckland, in June earlier this year.”
