Originally from Moscow, Ivan Delozari moved to Aberdeen at the age of 15 when his father’s company relocated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He soon started at ISA, and while he admits it took some time to adjust to the change, he says the school community made him feel welcome and helped him settle in.
“Coming from Russia, it was a big change, and there were many differences from my previous school. However, despite the cultural differences, everyone was so friendly and eager to get to know me and make friends.”
Ivan joined in Grade 10, the equivalent of S4, and quickly excelled within the IB programme, achieving an exceptional score of 44 out of a possible 45.
The diversity of the IB encouraged him to explore subjects outside his comfort zone, such as Spanish, while continuing to nurture his passion for mathematics.
He’d attended a specialised maths school in Russia, and his enthusiasm for the subject motivated him to help younger students through tutoring and to compete in the prestigious British Mathematical Olympiad (Round 2) where he was ranked among the top 25 maths students. He was also a gold medallist at the International Economics Olympiad 2023.
Ivan received offers from both the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics and believes the small class sizes and high-quality teaching at ISA helped his learning.
“The small class sizes make the classes more interactive and mean that the teachers have more time to help each student individually, allowing them to be more flexible and tailor the lesson structure to fit each student.”
Ivan is eager to pursue a career in quantitative finance, combining his love of maths and programming to develop clever algorithms that optimise investment strategies and use machine learning to make informed trading decisions in the stock market.
As to anyone considering ISA, Ivan says the school nurtures each student’s unique strengths and supports them in achieving their personal and academic goals.
“ISA encourages you to be your own person and is very welcoming. It suits people of all different personalities, with their own academic goals, and provides an environment where you can decide for yourself your goals and what you want to excel in.”
