David Yen will be heading off to the University of Waterloo with a bit of hardware to hang on his wall - the Governor General’s Bronze Academic Medal.
This award is earned by the top graduating student in a high school and is based on the average mark on all Grade 11 and Grade 12 courses. The calculation is done in the summer after all courses and any assessments are complete; schools do not know the winner until late August just as the recipient is heading off to university to begin the next chapter of their lives. Often the difference between first and second place can come down to less than 0.1 per cent, but not this year. Yen’s average was well above other worthy candidates with an average of 98.3 per cent.
Yen plans on following his passion of math and technology by completing a bachelor’s degree in Waterloo’s Program of Mechatronics Engineering.
At Vanier’s award ceremony in June, Yen won almost every major award in math and science – including Accounting 11, Precalculus 12, Calculus 12, Physics 12, and was the school’s top writer of the Euclid Math Contest. In Grade 11, Yen won the Chemistry 11 and Physics & Engineering 11 award. As part of his physics courses, Yen completed two major science fair projects. One was re-creating a sample of “gecko tape” from scratch, which is quite an accomplishment considering there is no adhesive in gecko tape, and for his second project Yen built an e-bike from the ground up. With his very limited spare time, Yen was on the senior boys’ volleyball team, and an avid badminton player. Yen credits his success to the support of his many friends and family, especially his brother Daniel.
Best of luck at Waterloo, David.