“I was accompanied on this path by teachers who encouraged me. You can’t get this far without the support of your family,” he said. Nicholas Monzon, the young man recognized by NEWS as one of the 10 most outstanding Argentine personalities of 2022, who, in addition to being an example of personal effort, was selected among the 10 best students in the world.
When Monsoon he was only 9 years old, his grandmother gave him a book without knowing that it was an advanced manual of mathematical problems. Far from being discouraged, Nicolás accepted the challenge and, without knowing it, changed his destiny. This year, already a young man of 25 years, he was selected by the Varkey Foundation as one of the ten finalists for the “Global Student Prize”, an award that highlights the best students from around the world. Nicolás was chosen from nearly 7,000 nominations and applications from 150 countries.
Raised in a humble home in Villa La Florida, in Quilmes, Nicolás I had no plans to continue with a university degree. However, during his last year of high school and thanks to the encouragement of a teacher, he convinced his parents to let him study at the University.
“When you don’t have the resources, studying at the university is a leap of faith,” he recalls. Thus, and also thanks to the encouragement of the NGO Jóvenes en Acción, she applied for a scholarship to study Computer Engineering at the Argentine Business University (UADE) and later the degrees in Mathematical Sciences and Physical Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). He is currently preparing his thesis to graduate as a computer engineer.
Beyond his academic success, Nicolás also created, together with colleagues from the “Magnetar” faculty, a startup dedicated to developing software. “I dream of being a scientist to improve people’s quality of life”, acknowledges Monzón himself.
With all this road traveled, Monzón still remembers his origins. Not only has he motivated his friends from the neighborhood to encourage them to study too, but he has also returned to his secondary school to give talks to the students: “The boys have different interests, you have to find the talent within each one and push it,” he says.
Beyond the results of the Varkey Foundation, Monzón It is already the moral winner because of the values it transmits: resilience, perseverance and effort.
Photos: Ernesto Pages, Pablo Cuarterolo, Sergio Piemonte and Marcelo Silvestro
by RN
