William Song isn’t sure what he’ll be doing for Canada Day.

Nor can the Coquitlam teen say for certain what he plans to do as a career now that he’s graduated from Port Moody secondary.

But at least one thing in his future is clear: Next month, he’ll be packing his bags to head to New Jersey, where he’ll be studying math for four years at Princeton, an American Ivy League school.

Last March, after applying to Harvard, Yale and MIT, Song, 17, learned he clinched a freshman spot at Princeton. And the acceptance letter came with a sweetener — the university would pay financial aid, based on his parents’ salary, of $44,000 out of his annual $50,000 USD tuition, including on-campus housing and meals.

Although Song also got into Yale, another Ivy League school, it was the Princeton cash that sealed the deal. “I couldn’t turn it down,” he says.

Last summer, while in New York, Song and his family toured potential universities. “I really like the feel of the east coast” of the United States, he says.

Originally, Song, who earned a 4.0 GPA under the International Baccalaureate program — and a Governor General’s bronze award last month for his perfect marks — planned to major in physics but his PMSS math teacher and mentor, Murray Martin, convinced him otherwise.

“Math is a good base,” Song says. “I like physics more than math but Mr. Martin provided a lot of information. He said the most important thing is that we need to solve problems and understand problems.”

Problem-solving is nothing new to Song. When he immigrated to Canada from Korea 10 years ago, the young boy knew no English.

Today, the Canadian citizen credits his ESL teacher at Walton elementary and kids in school for helping him learn the language. His father, a realtor and motel owner, and mother, a homemaker, also pressed him to pick it up quickly by having newspapers and books in English at home.

Song admits he didn’t take an interest in reading in English until he was 12 or 13 when he became hooked on book series, like Harry Potter. He also became fluent by practising the language with his sister, now a 19-year-old UBC student. “We spoke half Korean and half English until somebody told us that was kind of weird,” he remembers.

In high school, Song felt comfortable enough with English to be on the debating team; he also was on the student council for four years as well as the school’s jazz and community bands, playing sax and French horn.

Asked what he expects at Princeton, Song jokes, “Colder weather,” but then reflects, “I was thinking it would be pretty difficult because I might get homesick. I’ve never been away from home for an extended period. But I think after the orientation for international students, I will get right into my studies — math, physics, French and psychology or economics — and that will keep me busy.

"I’ll be home for Christmas anyway,” he says.

jwarren@tricitynews.com