King's High School year 13 student Luan Peterle’s mother has not stopped bragging about her son at the shops since he came home with a bronze medal. Earlier this month, Luan, 16, competed with three other New Zealanders to represent the country in the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Lithuania. Luan won a bronze medal with team-mate Alex Brinkworth from Central Southland College. "In my position, I beat around 200 people and there were about 100 above me.” His mother was particularly proud. "She brags to everybody now . . . even people at the supermarket she’ll bring it up. "It’s a bit awkward at times like, ‘oh, mum, you don't have to tell anyone’, but she does.” His other team-mates Nichole Luo, from Auckland, and Ericsson Ye, from Christchurch, won silver and were ranked 51 and 75 in the world, respectively. “We all tried out hardest, we all tried to support each other and I'm just happy we all came back with something.” Meeting people from all over the world, bunking with a Polish competitor and seeing the sights in Vilnius, Lithuania, was an “unforgettable” experience. The written exams were not too difficult but one practical exam that left everyone a little befuddled, he said. "We were dissecting a fly’s mouth, under a microscope . . . it was just difficult to hold everything and I didn’t speak to anyone who managed to do it well.” Luan entered three prestigious global biology competitions this year — the Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge, the London International Youth Science Forum and the IBO — not expecting to be accepted in all three. Due to financial and time constraints, he had to pick one and chose the IBO for the chance to not just represent himself, but also New Zealand. The exams, assignments and tests he underwent in Lithuania were not as hard as raising the $10,000 to get over there, he said. Luan had contacted 20 trusts and organisations in the hope of securing the funds, only to receive two tentative maybes.. However, after setting up a GiveaLittle page and speaking to the Otago Daily Times, sponsors reached out and people donated to help. “As soon as people saw it in the newspaper, I got contacted by two different law firms. "I’m so thankful to everyone who donated and to my sponsors, I would not have been able to get there without them.” laine.priestley@odt.co.nz
