Leonardo da Vinci was a master of everything from the arts to science, a true renaissance man. His peers know Leon Du as a person who pursues his many different passions with determination. He is a member of the congressional debate team and has proved himself in the field of math, a true minutemen.
Du is a freshman who has a love for math and politics. Just last year, he got fifth in the entire state of Ohio in the States MathCounts competition, performing on the level of his fellow seniors. He also competes in congressional debate, where he role plays as a congressman, and debates whether or not to pass hypothetical policies. He ranked third at the state level in middle school, and is now improving on the highschool level.
Du’s interest in math has led him to success, and has been aided by educators throughout his academic career.
“The teachers here at Revere are really supportive of their students, and they really genuinely care about their students and their success,” Du said.
The help from his teachers helped him become better at math and develop a love for the subject, so to give back to the community, he wants to invoke this same passion for other people.
“I want to tutor students in math as well, because I want to give back, because it’s giving me so much,” Du said.
As Du grew in math, he started to compete in many local and state competitions, which has led him to meet new people.
“The thing I cherish most are the people. I’ve met some of the most amazing people through math competitions that live across the state, or live in a completely different state,” Du said.
In Du’s eighth grade year, he skipped geometry and learned Algebra II from Joanne Gillette, the advisor of Mu Alpha Theta. As she saw Du progress as a mathematician, she saw his ability to effectively communicate and bond with his classmates.
“He works well with other students, even the students who were older than him,” Gillette said.
Gillette also saw Du’s talent in the field of math, especially in competitive math.
“The top 100 students in the state are invited to capital university, and we only had five students, and even though Leon is only a freshman, he qualified,” Gillette said.
Melanie Stuthard, Du’s former social studies teacher and the coach of congressional debate, saw Du’s leadership and skills in congressional debate.
“I think he is a good leader. I do think though to me, his overall strengths are being able to put together a good speech that’s easy to follow, but then also debate that,” Stuthard said.
Du is also naturally a social person who loves talking with and interacting with other people. This leads him to want to work with other people like him.
“To be honest, I don’t really have any idea of what I want to do in my career, but I definitely want to be around people who, like my teachers, support me,” Du said.
Du also has a love for politics and expressing his ideas, so when he saw congressional debate, it caught his interest.
“What really drew me to Congress was that we were talking about issues that affect millions of people around America and also around the world,” Du said.
Du has just started doing congressional debate in highschool, so his experience is minimal, but performance ever increasing.
“I think he has a lot of talent and potential, and so I’m really excited to see him progress over the next four years,” Stuthard said.
With four more years of school to go, Du will be able to grow over time, reaching new heights. He has displayed his passion and determination to move forward and succeed in the fields he is interested in. As he moves forward, he gives the credit to the people around him, not knowing the profound effect he has had on them. Leon Du is a true minuteman, he pursues his goals with vigor and draws other people in, the trademark of someone who is bound to succeed.
