The National Latin Vocabulary Exam is structured into six categories by years of Latin study, and within each category recognizes the Top Five Scorers in the world by name — a distinction awarded when a student’s score places them among the highest achieved globally in their division. This year, six Emerson Latin students received that recognition. The full record is set down below.
- Yumin Kim
- Hunjae Lee
- Olivia Lee
- Seungwoo Lee
- Jonghyun Seo
- John Woo
- Jaye Cho
- Joanne Kim
- Yumin Kim
- Hunjae Lee
- Jihan Lee
- Olivia Lee
- Seungwoo Lee
- Jonghyun Seo
- John Woo
- Charles Cho
- Eric Choi
- Minchae Kang
- Lynn Kim
- Jehyeong Suh
- Jiyeon Baek
- Jungwook Hong
- Alex Jung
- Dana Kim
- June Lee
The Top Five designation is what it says: the five highest-scoring students in the world within a given category, with ties admitted when scores are equal. To place one student there is uncommon. William Kim placed first in the world in 2021 — a result this record has noted before — and the years since have returned Gold Medals and consistent placing without again reaching the top of the global ranking. This year, six students did. Six students from a single academy placed among the five highest scorers in the world, in a competition that tests Latin vocabulary and inflected forms with no surrounding context to assist and no passage to consult. Each of those six names stands at the top of the global ranking for their division — either winning it outright or sharing that position with the handful of students worldwide who matched their score. That is the record as it stands, stated plainly.
The full placing cohort of nineteen students across Gold, Silver, and Bronze confirms what the World Champion nominations announce: the vocabulary is not being learned at the top and left thin below. The formation is holding across levels. We congratulate all nineteen.