When I was barely 18 years old, Raul Alcantara Castilloworld champion in Mathematics 2015, fulfilled one of his biggest dreams: he won a scholarship to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the best universities in the world. The young talent had to make many sacrifices to achieve this goal, since reaching a vacancy in this educational center was not easy. Thus, he had to take several tests in science, mathematics and English, in addition to writing an essay on his life; that is, they also evaluated his human condition.
“When I saw the result, the first thing I did was refresh the page to make sure there was no mistake, and when I saw that it was true, I screamed and threw the bottle I was holding. The people around me thought I was insane, but it was a wonderful moment, I was shocked, ”he commented to the Andina Agency.
The story of Raúl Alcántara
Raúl is from the province of canyon and at the age of 12 he had to separate from his family to continue his secondary studies at the Saco Oliveros school in Lima, where for his outstanding performance he received scholarships both in classes and in the student residence. During this time, he had the opportunity to participate in different international mathematics Olympiads, in which he won a gold medal in the Thailand World Olympics 2015 and many other recognitions:
- Bronze medal at the Rio de la Plata Mathematical Olympiad 2012.
- Silver medal at the Rio de la Plata Mathematical Olympiad 2013.
- Silver medal at the 2015 Southern Cone Countries Olympiad.
- Bronze medal in the RMM (Romanian Master of Mathematics) 2015.
- Gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2015.
- Silver medal at the 2016 Southern Cone Countries Olympiad.
- Gold medal at the Ibero-American Mathematical Olympiad 2016.
- Silver medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2016
A rather remarkable detail of his life is that every Sunday that he went to visit his family, he gave classes at his house in Barranca to many low-income children who also aspire to be world champions in mathematics.
Raul Alcantara won many math contests. Photo: Saco Oliveros
What happened to Raúl Alcántara?
Currently, Raúl Alcántara is studying the last cycles of the Computer Science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Additionally, through a YouTube channel called “Education for All”, he helps students prepare for the International Mathematical Olympiads (IMO).
In 2019, he was part of the project to create robots for use in the classroom, which that same year was tested in schools in Georgia (USA). A short time later, she held several conferences in our country, where she sought to encourage more young people to enter the world of science.