Princeton Jiang, 2024 Texas cohort
If you ask Princeton Jiang about Warrior Cats, be prepared for a deep dive — and maybe even a 3D figurine. “It’s like Wings of Fire, but with cats,” he explains. The fantasy series follows wild cats who live in structured clans and speak in what Princeton calls a kind of “secret language.”
He’s not just a passive fan. Using Tinkercad and a home 3D printer, he’s created custom warrior cat figures, blended with characters of his own invention. “Eventually, I want to design my favorite Warrior Cat from scratch and print it,” he says.
Princeton, a rising fourth grader in Texas, is what you might call a full-spectrum learner. He’s a voracious reader who’s worked through the entire Percy Jackson series, dives deep into animal science, and is constantly making things. Examples include: cardboard bows and arrows, a homemade Ben 10 watch, and one failed attempt at slime that turned into oobleck. “I actually found it kind of satisfying… until I added glitter,” he admits.
Academically, Princeton is soaring. He’s working above grade level — taking fourth-grade math at school while studying pre-algebra through AoPS at home. He’s preparing for a possible skip into sixth-grade math next year.
His early spark came from reading and exploring at home. “We did just a few workbook pages now and then,” his mother Vivian recalls, “but he always seemed to pick things up really fast.” He quickly developed an astounding English vocabulary and speaks Mandarin as well, the family’s first language. By kindergarten, he’d excelled on the CogAT and joined the district’s gifted program.
Perhaps his most ‘Princeton’ moment came in second grade: “A girl walked up to the teacher with a book and asked, ‘What’s this word?’ The teacher didn’t know either. And then she just… called me.” The word was ‘chromatophores’ — and, yes, Princeton knew what they were (pigmented cells found in animals).
Despite his natural aptitude for almost every subject, Princeton didn’t always think of himself as a math kid. “In first grade, there were a lot of kids better than me,” he recalls. But an exceptionally high test score in second grade kicked off a series of events that landed him a spot with National Math Stars.
With support from NMS, Princeton has found more than just acceleration — he’s found connection. At Welcome Weekend, he met Tristan, his math mentor buddy, and bonded with a group of peers who shared his interests. “We’re all into the same stuff — Rubik’s cubes, video games, 3D printing.”
While there, his parents felt a similar sense of belonging. “We were kind of clueless,” his dad Kevin admits. “We knew he was different, but we didn’t always know what to do with that. He was asking questions we couldn’t answer.” Meeting other families at Welcome Weekend changed everything. “It felt like home,” he says. “We realized we weren’t the only ones.”
This summer, Princeton will dive into a packed schedule of camps: Camp Pursuit, digital art and animation camp, Game Design, and Technocamp. He’s adding new tools to his already-impressive creative toolkit and dreaming big about the future. He’s inspired by his uncle’s work in rocket design, fascinated by robotics, and hopes to attend a top-tier university like MIT, Cornell, or Princeton. He also wants to become a University Interscholastic League Spelling Bee champion.
Like Firepaw — his favorite Warrior Cat — Princeton is still early in his journey. But he’s already proven himself to be clever, brave, and adept at finding opportunities for his intelligence and creativity to shine. Through NMS, he’s part of a growing network of friends who “get” him. You could even call it a clan.
