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Nora Fernandez Fernandez
This week, specifically from July 16 to 25, the LV International Chemistry Olympiad is held in Zurich, Switzerland.
The event, which brings together the best classified in the different National Olympics, will be attended by four students representing Spain. They are, following the order of the ranking, Sergio Garrido (Valencia), Miguel Martín (Madrid), Carmen Fuentes (Seville) and Álvaro Mairlot (Alicante), all second-year Baccalaureate students about to start university.
These four students travel accompanied by two URJC Chemistry professors, Óscar Rodríguez Montoro and Jesús María Arsuaga, who tutor and advise them so that the experience is as productive as possible. The latter, Arsuaga, is the head of the Organizing Committee for the Chemistry Olympics in Spain.
According to the teacher, “this is the first time that the Spanish team has taken the preparation course at the URJC. They started with the online training on Friday, July 7 and, on the 12th and 13th, they have practiced in the ESCET chemistry laboratories, under the supervision of Professor Mar Ramos, other ESCET teachers and the laboratory technician, Carmen Graceful".
On behalf of her colleagues, Carmen Fuentes has expressed her enthusiasm for participating in this international phase of the Chemistry Olympiad. Student of the double degree of international and national baccalaureate, the young woman is clear that, next year, she will begin "the career of Biochemistry at the University of Seville since, in addition to chemistry, I love biology".
Like many other students, for her it was decisive "the good teachers I had in both disciplines, who encouraged me to deepen my knowledge and made me fall in love with what I was studying." In addition, "in the International Baccalaureate you have compulsory practices in many subjects and you can dedicate a lot of time to the laboratory part, which motivated me a lot," she adds.
Fuentes appeared in the local phase of the Olympics "by a miracle, because I just got caught by some flu" but that did not prevent her from finishing first. In the national phase, held in Valencia, she was classified in third place, which has led her to this international phase.
In this International Olympiad, each country brings 4 students who participate individually and represent their nation. “The truth is that, in this sense, Spain has a complicated situation, since the candidates it chooses stick to the baccalaureate contents, while other countries, mainly Asian countries such as China, give great importance to the Olympics and prepare exams based on the IChO (International Chemistry Olympiad) models”, says the student.
Lastly, Fuentes remarked that another motivation for being here "is to see that there are always more boys than girls at these events, which makes me think that I have to be here and that I have a role important". For her, luxury is taking "a complicated chemistry exam, where there are problems that she can't solve because that's where the really interesting thing is."
From the URJC, we wish the candidates luck.
