BRAVO, NOVAK! Serbian wunderkind who stacked up medals at olympiads is today a student of the most prestigious college at the famous Cambridge!

For Novak Despotović (18) from Kikinda, mathematics was never a bogeyman. Not even when he was a young boy. Equations held no unknowns for him, and all mathematical problems were easily solvable.

He was a mathematical wunderkind as a younger primary school student; in the higher grades, teachers learned from him, and soon his name was known by all professors and doctors of mathematics in Serbia because, at the state competition, he offered solutions to their tasks that they themselves did not know. At the Mathematical Grammar School in Belgrade, he was the best mathematician in his generation.

Awards at international competitions, most notably two silver medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), placed him within the world’s mathematical elite as an important member. Today, he is a student at one of the world’s best universities, at Trinity College, the most prestigious in Cambridge, England. Top-tier knowledge and awards secured him a scholarship, but his successes have not overtaken his modesty. That is why he prefers to talk about student life, which he quickly grew accustomed to, rather than his accolades.

-At the Mathematical Grammar School, I acquired excellent knowledge, so the material of the first year of studies does not represent a problem for me; instead, I am simultaneously following lectures for the second year. I fit in very easily because my high school classmate from Belgrade, Janko Popović, a medal winner at International Olympiads in physics and chemistry, is also here, as is Neda Živanović, a girl from Niš who has medals from the International Olympiad in astronomy and astrophysics. I met a good portion of my colleagues earlier, at international competitions, so we are not strangers. Although we are from all parts of the world, we have similar interests and humor, so we all feel welcome and accepted – states Despotović.

Before enrollment, he had to pass several tests in English and mathematics, and the key was an interview with two professors from Cambridge who, in the end, were more than satisfied with the knowledge of the young Serb and his original way of solving problems, so he was granted a full scholarship at Trinity. He grew accustomed to college life very quickly.

-I have a nice and well-organized life in Cambridge. The University takes exceptional care of its students; all freshmen have spacious single rooms. We wear the recognizable Trinity gown only at special events and formal dinners. On all other occasions, students dress the same as back home. Our studies also last four years – reports the young man from Kikinda, who plays the guitar in his spare time, having also finished primary music school, goes to the gym, socializes with colleagues, occasionally goes out, and enjoys walks through the beautiful parks of Cambridge.

-I particularly like the old architecture and the well-kept parks. We have meals in a dining hall more than 800 years old, and on the walls are portraits of the most famous former students, such as Isaac Newton. However, I love it most when I hear the Serbian language on the street, because our people live here too. There are our students at other colleges and in older years as well. Despite the widespread opinion that it constantly rains in England, the weather here is significantly warmer than in Serbia – describes the future scientist.

He visits his family in Kikinda after every trimester. His parents say that his move from Kikinda to Belgrade for high school was harder for him, while everyone accepted the relocation for studies to Great Britain more easily emotionally.

-He left for Belgrade at only 14 years old and changed his city, school, friends, and separated from his family. For the first two years, he spent every weekend at home, and then he slowly became independent; due to competitions, he traveled the world, so going to Great Britain was completely natural for him. Now we hear from and see each other often via video calls. We feel there is no excessive need for worry, because students in Cambridge are protected, as if in a bubble. They are well-organized, great care is taken to ensure everything goes as it should, they react at the first sign of any problems, and their goal is for every student to be successful – say his parents Milutin and Melanija Despotović.

Novak has an older brother, Todor, who is in his third year at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, and a younger sister, Zoja, in the eighth grade of primary school. Although they are very different, the parents are happy because they are quite close and especially love to gather during the holidays. The brother and sister are proud of Novak’s successes.

HE WAS A “PROBLEM” FOR TEACHERS

-Novak started school having just turned six, which brought disappointment for both him and us, because the system did not know what to do with a child who knew the material for at least the first three grades. The solution was IOP 3, a program for gifted children, which was later approved for him and was the first such case in Kikinda. Soon he met a very important person, mathematics teacher Vesna Kiurski, who was much more than just an instructor. She was the first to understand how talented he was; she supported and encouraged him exceptionally with so much optimism that even we were surprised. Novak began stacking up successes at competitions and, after primary school, enrolled in the Mathematical Grammar School in Belgrade, which he finished as the best mathematician of his generation in Serbia – the parents recall.

READING NOVELS AT FIVE YEARS OLD

-When Novak turned three, Todor started school. Novak immediately began inquiring about letters, but we told him he was free to just play. However, we experienced a huge surprise because, by watching what his brother was doing from the sidelines, he learned to read independently. At five years old, instead of picture books, he was well into reading “The Wizard of Oz” and “Tom Sawyer.” He progressed quickly in everything that interested him, so he did mathematical tasks of a more complex type with great ease, solved various riddles, remembered everything he heard, and connected things correctly and logically – the parents remember how their child showed rare intelligence early on.