Gavin

About Me

Hi, I am Gavin.

At an early age, I became interested in mathematics because it allowed me to experience real thrills from solving difficult problems and I was able to utilise it e.g. working out my own rankings of Pro Evolution Soccer teams.

Furthermore, as I got older my interest increased because mathematics produced beautiful results through the introduction of new bizarre concepts such as imaginary numbers and series, which provide a way to evaluate a function with any possible input teaching us to be imaginative.

Meanwhile, I was inspired by one of my teachers to teach mathematics. He gave up his own time to teach the Further Maths IGCSE and discussed advanced mathematics with me and encouraged students to explore mathematics e.g. by getting students to plot how matrices transformed coordinates rather than quoting rules - I would like to ensure that other students get the same experience, encouraging more students to continue studying mathematics.

I left school in 2013 with 11A*s and 5As, achieving 295/300 for Maths and 174/175 for Further Maths awarding me an A* with Distinction, a grade higher than an A*. After leaving school, I went to college to study Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Geography.

During college, I became so fascinated by Mathematics that I decided to self-study A Level Further Mathematics(Additional), which allowed me to study all the possible modules offered at the time by Edexcel and enlightened me to the applications of mathematics to physics through using differential equations to model freefall, rocket launches and raindrops falling through the clouds.

Therefore, I decided rather than studying just Mathematics at Durham University, I would study Mathematics and Physics combined as part of the Natural Sciences Programme.