Thornhill
August 14, 2008 11:39 PM
By: Adam McLean
With the Summer Games under way, many Canadians are glued to their TVs, ready to cheer our athletes in their pursuit of Olympic glory.
Jin Lee is one of those fans, but, unlike most, Mr. Lee knows what it feels like to represent Canada at an Olympiad and also bring home a medal.
His medal was not a result of athleticism or brawn, but rather brain power.
The Thornhill resident and Vaughan Secondary School graduate just returned from Hungary, representing Canada in the International Chemistry Olympiad.
The 19-year-old won a bronze medal, which was awarded for finishing in the top 25 to 50 per cent of scores.
The international competition was open to high school students from around the globe and, according to Mr. Lee, approximately 270 young chemists from more than 70 countries took part in this year’s games.
The games had each chemist participating in one written examination and one laboratory session.
The five-hour laboratory session tasks included analysing a substance in a solution, identifying an unknown solution, and preparing an organic substance.
The test is as nerve-wracking as it sounds, Mr. Lee said, and a real brain buster to boot.
“Each project is extremely difficult and there was always two or three judges watching you from a distance,” Mr. Lee said. “Every now and then, they would even look over your shoulder to make sure you are doing things properly. You can’t help but notice them.”
According to the Olympiad website, Mr. Lee finished 128th overall, while the combined efforts of the Canadian squad won them 25th spot, tied with the United Kingdom and finishing ahead of such nations as the United States, Brazil and France.
Saying he could have done better than his bronze showing, Mr. Lee was still happy with the result of the team and that, more importantly, he had fun acting as an ambassador for Canada.
“What was nice was, there was a lot of time to socialize and interact with the different countries,” Mr. Lee said.
“We ate together, we signed each other’s lab coats, exchanged e-mail addresses, went on a cruise and a bunch of us tried to build a human pyramid.
It showed me what can be done when you have support and people work together. We wanted to show the best of Canada,” he added.
Despite rubbing shoulders and flaring Bunsen burners with the best young chemists in the world, Mr. Lee is leaving the world of chemistry and a $5,000 scholarship opportunity behind, as he enters his first year at the University of Toronto as an engineering student in September.
“Engineering is like chemistry and the olympiad competition in a way,” he explained. “You have only a short time to learn many lessons or subjects and I can apply these concepts to different engineering mechanics.”
Calling the Chemistry Olympiad an honourable event, Mr. Lee said if a similar engineering event were to come around, he would jump at the chance to represent Canada on the world stage again.
Next year’s International Chemistry Olympiad will be held in Cambridge, England.