Maths whiz Amrik studying at MIT

Son of Prof Gurmohan Kochhar, deputy principal of the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Amrik placed first in Mathematics, Further Mathematics and fourth in Physics in the world.

He attended Hillview College, Tunapuna, and was part of the 2004 and 2005 National Math-ematics Olympiad Team to Greece and Mexico respectively.

Hillview Principal, Jeremiah Seepersad, told Newsday he was extremely proud of Amrik’s achievement, as well as that of Anderson St Hill, who placed sixth in Further Mathematics and Ararimeh Aiyejina who placed fifth in Mathematics.

Seepersad noted that this year the school was celebrating 50 years — its golden anniversary — and it was fitting that such prestige had been brought to the school. He was keeping his fingers crossed for the President’s Medal when the scholarships are announced later this month.

Prof Kochhar told Newsday he received the news of his son’s success on Wednesday night and he was "very happy." Amrik is now studying at the highly acclaimed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Aiyejina, a Nigerian by birth whose mother is Trinidadian, is pursuing chemical engineering studies at Princeton University. His father, Literature Prof Aiyejina who is based at UWI, St Augustine, told Newsday he was "extremely happy" with his son’s performance. He said they have been living in Trinidad since 1989. The third Hillview boy, St Hill, is studying engineering at St Augustine.

Meanwhile, Jivaan Bennett, a St George’s College student who was ranked second in Spanish and tenth in French, is taking a break from studying while teaching languages at Bishop’s Anstey High School.

He told Newsday he wants to pursue medicine in France. Pointing out that French was his favourite subject, Bennett said he was surprised that he was ranked higher in Spanish. An only child, he thanked God for his success, especially since he had to be away from school for six weeks because of spinal surgery. His mother Karen-Jo Bennett was also praised as she "made a lot of sacrifices to enable me to visit Margarita, Peru and Guadeloupe." He said those trips greatly assisted him.

He also thanked his teachers, Ms Maitre-Gean, Gail Ganpath, Dr Jean Campbell, Ms Beckles and Mr Crespo. Besides concentrating on academics, Bennett was also captain of the school’s swim team, and "head boy" for the period 2004-2005, which involved a lot of extra-curricula activities.