Hanks’ informatics journey began in a school computer club and grew into four IOI appearances. He has also pursued math,  and discussed how he got un-stuck after hitting a plateau in year 11. Previously drawn to combinatorics and the elegance of tree problems in graph theory, Hanks now looks forward to exploring rigorous new topics like group theory at Oxford. Outside of academics, he further engages his creativity through music composition and a favorite type of puzzle.

We caught up before he started university (interview edited for length and clarity):