Rio S.
About Me
Born in Tokyo to a bilingual Japanese mom and bilingual American dad who spoke only their native languages around me, I am now perfectly fluent in both languages. While I attended Hong Kong International School for Grades 1-5 (and learned Chinese), my parents insisted I return to Tokyo every summer to attend a Japanese public school so that I could continue learning to read and write Japanese.
Beginning in third grade at the Hong Kong International School, I was placed in a math enrichment program taught by an instructor with a graduate degree in math pedagogy. In this program, I fell in love with problem-solving, puzzles, logic games, etc., and raced through the entire US high school math curriculum by fifth grade.
Since entering Stanford OHS, I have focused most of my free time on math-related activities, especially math competitions (both as a participant and a problem-writer at Stanford OHS and through in-person events), math tutoring, and math research through MIT PRIMES. Having completed the Reading Track in differential geometry last year, I am currently conducting research on Ricci Flow that I hope to have published. I will continue to pursue math research in college, get a Ph.D. in math, and then intend to become a professional mathematician at a top research university.
What I Love About Stanford OHS
I have particularly enjoyed the deep interactions and discussions in the classroom, the access to advanced math, computer science, physics, and Core classes, the curricular/scheduling flexibility, and the differentiated support available. I also really appreciate the inverted class structure, where the reading is done outside of class and the class is centered on discussion rather than lecturing.
Ironically, even though there is much less face-to-face contact with my peers, I’ve found much more commonality of interests and deeper friendships at Stanford OHS than at my previous school. Many Stanford OHS students are super talented and curious about STEM subjects, so it is easy to get a conversation going with them. Stanford OHS students are also really welcoming. They are always willing to lend a hand if you need help and they are supportive of each other’s endeavors and accomplishments. Even though Stanford OHS students are academically-inclined, there is no sense of competition at the school.
Why I Chose Stanford OHS
Although my experiences in public schools in Japan up through primary school were very rewarding, when I switched to an international school in Tokyo to start 6th grade, I was profoundly disappointed; the pace was slow, classes were boring, and although I was ready to take college-level STEM classes, the school administration was adamantly opposed to any kind of acceleration, so I ended up repeating work I had done years before in Hong Kong. Other international schools were similar. We also considered returning to the Japanese school system, but unlike the collaborative, playful, and exciting atmosphere of primary school, starting in middle school, Japanese educational institutions become focused almost entirely on college entrance exam preparation. With a focus primarily on cramming huge numbers of facts and relatively little time spent on critical thinking, discussions, or presentation skills, this was not an attractive option, either.
Luckily, we found Stanford OHS, which turned out to be the only place in Japan, public or private, that would allow me to take classes based on my ability and not simply my age. Once I switched in 7th grade, not only was I amazed at the extraordinary teaching of Stanford OHS instructors, but the number and variety of clubs, academic excellence of my peers, and flexibility in scheduling class times have allowed me to deeply develop my interests in STEM in a way that would simply not have been possible anywhere else. Stanford OHS allowed me to immediately take advanced Calculus in 7th grade, and that has completely reshaped my mathematical journey. I also deeply appreciate the focus on developing my writing skills through Core and English classes over the last five years.
Although I have taken a majority of my classes at Stanford OHS, I have supplemented those with classes at Stanford ULO, JHU CTY, MIT OCW, and homeschool classes in advanced Japanese and glassblowing with family/community members, as well.