Student’s Story | AMC 12 满分背后：Alessandro 的 TOP 1% 数学成长方程式

In the competitive landscape of international secondary school mathematics, a "perfect score" is far more than a number—it is a rarity.

However, this is not the first time Alessandro has reached such heights. When we trace his journey back, it becomes clear that his trajectory is not a sudden leap, but a steady, multi-year progression of excellence.

在中学阶段的国际数学竞赛体系中，“满分”，从来不是一个常见词。

然而，这并不是 Alessandro 第一次站在这样的高度。

当我们将时间轴向前拉伸，会发现这条曲线并非陡然跃升，而是一段持续数年的稳定进阶。

As a founding student of ISA, Alessandro’s growth has been rooted in the ISA system since Early Years at ISA Tianhe, continuing until his transfer to ISA Science City after primary school graduation. 

When reflecting on how Alessandro’s interest in mathematics first took root, his mother traces it back to a mathematics competition in Singapore. At the time, a teacher recognized his potential and encouraged him to give it a try. “You could say that was the moment the seed of mathematics was planted.”

Yet, the pivotal "initial condition" that reshaped his competition trajectory actually stemmed from an imperfect beginning.

Upon entering ISASC, he entered the AMC 8 with a novice’s confidence and zero preparation. "At the time, I thought I was quite good at math and didn’t need to study," he recalls. The resulting score was a wake-up call. Rather than dwelling on the disappointment, he embraced the Reflective trait of an IB learner. 

作为爱莎创校生，Alessandro 自幼儿园起便在爱莎天河校区成长，直至小学毕业后转入爱莎科学城校区。十年之间，他始终在同一教育体系中学习与进阶。

谈及 Alessandro 对数学兴趣的萌芽，母亲回忆，这一切最早可以追溯到一次在新加坡举行的奥数比赛。当时，老师敏锐地察觉到他的潜力，并鼓励他勇敢尝试。“可以说是老师在那时为他种下的数学种子。”

而真正改变他竞赛轨迹的“初始条件”，反而源于一次并不完美的开局。

升入爱莎科学城时，Alessandro 曾满怀信心地“裸考” AMC8。“当时我认为自己数学挺厉害的，觉得不用准备。”结果，成绩远未达到他的预期。 但他并没有停留在沮丧中。在与父母的复盘中，他展现出了 IB 学习者典型的反思（Reflective）特质。

This reflection triggered a profound transformation. He realized that talent is merely a scalar; it only becomes a vector that breaks through limits when paired with methodology and reverence. Driven by this newfound clarity, he returned to the same competition in Grade 7 and secured a Perfect Score.

这次反思触发了惊人的转变。他开始意识到，天赋只是标量，只有加上正确的方法与敬畏之心，才能成为冲破上限的矢量。带着这种觉醒，他在七年级再次挑战同一赛事，直接拿下了全球满分奖。

▲Alessandro and the awards he won on AMC8 

Alessandro和他在AMC8上获得的奖项

The leap from a setback to a perfect score was not fueled by the "sea of tactics", but by a personal "recurrence formula" for growth.

从失利到满分的飞跃，秘诀并不在于苦行僧式的“题海战术”，而在于他为自己找到的一道“递推公式”。

Supported by a flexible atmosphere at home and school, he prioritized dissecting the logical structure of a problem over sheer volume. Such low-burden, high-frequency rhythm transformed learning from a "chore" into a "necessity".

This sustainable mindset provides more than just consistency; it grants him the ability to perform "dynamic corrections" under pressure. After finishing the AMC 12A exam, Alessandro noted calmly, "There were a few concepts I hadn't fully mastered; I don't feel I did my best." Rather than dwelling on it, he immediately took the initiative to seek guidance from his teachers, dedicating a week to intensive online sessions and rigorous self-reflection. This precise, focused effort allowed him to turn things around and deliver a flawless, perfect score in the notoriously more difficult AMC 12B.

为了保持那个向上的“矢量”，他在学校和家庭的包容氛围下，设定了一个极简规则：每天三道高质量练习。不追求数量，而是反复咀嚼题目的逻辑结构，归纳错误类型。这种低负担、高频次的节奏，让学习从一种“消耗”变成了生活中的“必需”。

这种可持续的学习状态，也赋予了他面对挫折时快速“动态修正”的能力。在 2026 年 AMC 12A 卷考完后，Alessandro 表现得非常冷静：“有几个考点没完全掌握，感觉考得一般。”那一刻，他没有陷入抱怨，而是主动提出找老师，利用一周时间进行高强度的线上补课与反复练习。这种精准的自我修复，让他最终在公认难度更高的 AMC 12B 中，反而交出了一张满分答卷。

▲ Alessandro's awards on AMC12

Alessandro在AMC12获得的奖项

Despite his exceptional talent in mathematics, Alessandro does not shy away from his weaknesses.

 "As a dedicated STEM student, I find the humanities more challenging," he admits. 

Building confidence in his weaker areas took time. To help him overcome self-doubt, his university counselor encouraged him to take the IELTS without any specific preparation. For a student who has never sought outside English tutoring and has grown entirely within the ISA IB system, his surprise score of 7.5 was a powerful testament to his authentic proficiency. This timely validation allowed him to recognize his own progress and provided the assurance needed to tackle humanities with newfound energy.

"The progress I’ve made in humanities actually makes me prouder," he says. 

At ISASC, the interdisciplinary curriculum ensures that humanities are not about rote memorization, but inquiry. 

尽管在数学上表现突出，Alessandro 并不回避自己的短板。

“作为绝对的理科生，我文科相对比较弱。”

对于短板的信心建立并非一蹴而就。为了帮他建立信心，升学指导老师鼓励他放下压力去尝试雅思“裸考”。对于一名从未参加过校外英语补习、完全在爱莎 IB 体系中浸润成长的学生来说，他最终斩获雅思裸考7.5 分的惊喜成绩。这不仅是对他长期积累的最好验证，更是一份极具说服力的实力见证。这次来自学校的适时引导，让他真切感知到自己的进步，并重拾了攻克文科难关的底气。

他直言：“在文科上取得的进步，其实更令我自豪。”

得益于爱莎科学城跨学科的课程设计，文科课堂不再是枯燥的记忆与输出。在探究式课堂中，老师鼓励他用逻辑思维去拆解人文话题，通过讨论、演讲与协作，建立独特的表达体系。

▲ Alessandro's IELTS score

Alessandro的雅思成绩

This Balanced approach has rounded out his thinking, and interestingly, this broader perspective has enriched his mathematical intuition and depth of thought.

这种全面发展（Balanced）的教育理念，让他的思维结构更加完整，这种广阔的视野也在无形中反哺了他的数学直觉和思考深度。

When asked about the school’s impact, Alessandro repeatedly uses a word the most.

谈及学校对自己的影响，Alessandro 多次提到一个词。

This support is felt in innovative courses like Math X, where math meets real-world engineering, but it is best captured in a quiet, powerful moment during the AIME exam. As the school’s sole qualifier that year, Alessandro found himself as the only candidate in the room.

这种支持，既体现在 Math X 这种将数学与科学、编程融合的创新课程中——让他从纸上谈兵进阶到“设计并搭建一艘船”的真实建模；更体现在那些不为人知的微小细节里。他特别提到了那次难忘的 AIME 考试。 由于晋级门槛极高，那一场考试，他是校内唯一一名考生。

Behind an "exam hall for one" lies the school’s ultimate respect for every individual’s journey. This stable support system provides the "safety boundary" he needs to explore the unknown.

一个人的考场，背后是学校对每一个学生个体发展的极致尊重。 这种长期、稳定的支持系统，构成了他探索未知的“安全边界”。

▲ After placing in the top 5% of the AMC 10, Alessandro successfully qualified for and completed the 2025 AIME

Alessandro在AMC10中凭借前5%的成绩成功晋级并完成2025AIME测试

To his mother, this support is a decade-long constant. "The school respects individual differences and encourages students to be risk-takers," she notes. "I’ve seen this transformation in him firsthand." She believes this environment—one that rewards inquiry and allows for trial and error—is precisely what gave Alessandro the courage to pursue such ambitious goals.

在母亲眼中，这种“被支持”的感受并非偶然，而是一种长期而稳定的教育氛围。

“十年来，不管是作为学生还是家长，我们都能感受到学校对每一个孩子个体差异的尊重。学校鼓励他们去尝试、去探究，去做一个勇于探索的人(risk-taker)。我在他身上非常明显地看到这种改变。”

她认为，正是这种允许试错、鼓励探索的环境，让孩子更有勇气迈出第一步，也更愿意挑战更高的目标。

Regarding his future university path and major, Alessandro is in no rush to provide a definitive answer. While fields like STEM, Artificial Intelligence, and Computer Science pique his interest, he values the process of constant self-calibration through exploration above all.

关于未来的大学与专业方向，Alessandro 并未急于给出确定答案。理工科、人工智能、计算机科学，这些领域引发着他的兴趣，但他更看重的是在探索中不断校准自我。

During the summer of Grade 8, he joined the renowned Johns Hopkins University's CTY program, collaborating with global peers and experiencing the rigor of top-tier academic training.

八年级暑假，他又前往约翰霍普金斯大学参加了著名的CTY 天才夏令营，与全球才俊一起学习，接受顶级学术资源的洗礼。

Supported by the school’s systematic university counseling, he has learned to navigate future possibilities through the lenses of interest, capability, and the context of our time. For Alessandro, growth isn’t about solving an ultimate proposition; it is about maintaining curiosity and passion while continuously approaching the answer.

在学校系统化的升学指导支持下，他逐渐学会从兴趣、能力与时代背景多个维度，理解未来的可能性。对他而言，成长并不是解出一道终极命题，而是在不断逼近答案的过程中，保持思考与热情。

Mathematics is more than just solving for x; It is a lifelong discipline in thinking, judgment, and perseverance—teaching learners how to navigate the unknown and correct their course amidst uncertainty.

数学的意义，从来不止于解题。

它更像是一种长期训练人思考、判断与坚持的方式，教会学习者如何面对未知，如何在不确定中不断修正路径。

Reflecting on Alessandro’s journey, his competition scores are merely coordinates along a vast trajectory. The true force propelling him forward is a profound patience for the process of learning, a steadfast trust in methodology, and an intrinsic drive that has matured through constant exploration. As this curve reaches into a more complex and blurred future, he carries forward more than just problem-solving skills—he carries a mindset to navigate the world.

回望 Alessandro 的成长轨迹，竞赛成绩只是阶段性坐标，真正支撑他不断向前的，是对学习本身的耐心、对方法的信任，以及在探索中逐渐形成的内在驱动力。

而这条曲线，仍在向未来延伸。当问题变得更复杂、边界更模糊，他所积累的，不只是解题经验，更是一种面对世界的思维方式。

▲ Celebrating Alessandro’s perfect AMC 12 score at the Secondary School Assembly

中学集会上庆祝Alessandro在AMC12获得的满分成就

This is the archetype of the learner ISASC aims to cultivate: Guided by the IB holistic education philosophy, possessing the capacity for long-term inquiry, the awareness for self-reflection, and the courage to step into the unknown.

The answer may not be unique, but growth is always in progress.

这，正是爱莎科学城所期待培养的学习者形态：

在 IB 全人教育理念引导下，拥有长期探究的能力，具备自我反思的意识，也始终保有走向未知的勇气。

答案未必唯一，但成长，始终在路上。

Within the multifaceted world of IB,may you harness the elegant logic of mathto decode a future of infinite horizons.

祝福Alessandro在 IB 的多维世界，继续用数学的严谨逻辑，解构无限可能的未来。