To get to Molas you have to go a little deeper into the Yucatan jungle, go through winding rural roads and villages, and right there in Molas Yucatán; María Fernanda López Tuyub, an 11 year-old sixth grade student, prepares three to five hours a day to participate in the World Mathematics Olympiad, to be held from July 1 to 6 in Bulgaria.
Molas is located 16 kilometers south of the city and has about 2,000 inhabitants. 80.14% of the population is indigenous and 36.94% of the inhabitants speak Maya their parents indigenous language.
The road she chose has not been easy, but her effort and dedication have taken her forward and she looks nervous, although she says she is confident in getting the first place.
The process began in 2016, says his father Néstor Esteban López Fuentes, a math teacher in a telesecundaria and who with his wife, Genny Adelina Tuyub Collí, administrative employee in the Faculty of Chemistry of the UADY, have been the main drivers and motivators of her young daughter.
Through the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY), Maria Fernanda took a test applied to all public school students, from the fifth grade.
María Fernanda won and that gave her the right to participate at the zone level, where she also took the victory and participated in the sector level and from there at the state level, where she was among the 100 best children of Yucatan who presented the Math exam.
Then she was able to represent Yucatán in the Mathematics Olympiad of Elementary Education (OMEP) that was held in Oaxtepec, Morelos.
In the selective group, there were 20 children of the fifth grade and she was able to train for a week at UADY. She was among the three winners who went to OMEP in 2017. In Oaxtepec she won a silver medal and that gave her the opportunity to participate in the selective trials to go to the International Olympiad in 2018.
She received training with other children from Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Veracruz and Mexico City.
She had to go through qualifying rounds, until Maria Fernanda was selected to be among the four children who will represent Mexico in the International Mathematics Olympiad in Bulgaria.
Her teammates are one from Zacatecas and two from Mexico City and her dad will accompany her on the trip.
“I like all subjects, but in which I stand out the most is Mathematics, I like to solve problems, use logic, you can discover new things. We are going to see geometry, arithmetic, algebra, number theory and counting, ” María Fernanda said modestly.
María Fernanda has three brothers and her parents declared: “We are very proud of her and we support her all the way. There are many expenses, but it’s worth it, “said the father.
Yucatán needs more stories like hers…
Source: yucatan.com.mx
