Parsa became intrigued by math Olympiads in elementary school, and contacted a teacher who soon became his mentor. Throughout his competition era, he loved exploring topics outside of the usual Olympiad syllabus, an unusual approach he recommends to others. He is now ready to leave his Olympiad years behind and dive into all things related to shapes, like algebraic topology. Outside of math, Parsa enjoys mountaineering and would love to learn Russian and read Dostoyevsky in its original form.

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