The root of his passion lies in the world of numbers and letters and a soft-spoken Gravenhurst High School student is speaking volumes with his mathematical achievements.

Grade 12 student David Lee recently learned he was among the top 25 per cent in the 2007 Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge, sponsored by Sun Life Financial and organized by the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) in collaboration with the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo.

More than 7,200 students across Canada wrote the test, and Lee, a provincial champion, was one of nine gold medallists for the Ontario North region. Gold medals are presented at the discretion of the organizing committee to students who have achieved a significant score.

Lee, who has applied to the University of Waterloo for post-secondary schooling and hopes to pursue a career in commerce or accounting, said the test is a combination of all math learned in high school from algebra and statistics to trigonometry. He is currently studying all three Grade 12 math courses including advanced functions, calculus and data management.

He wrote the test, which called on students to solve 12 questions during the two-and-a-half-hour time limit, at GHS Nov. 21, with math teacher John Cats serving as a proctor.

“I wanted to see how good I could do in math,” Lee said. “Some of my friends in Toronto were writing it and I wanted to see how I compared.”

Lee said the test was difficult, noting it’s meant to be, and found his results surprising.

“I thought I did badly because I was running out of time quickly and was rushing at the end,” Lee said.

Cats said Lee’s accomplishments are noteworthy.

“No one has ever won an award at GHS from this competition,” he said. “He did an excellent job.”

The Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge is a preliminary test for the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad and is designed to motivate students beyond their regular classroom work and provide a mathematics enrichment challenge.