José Ángel Villegas, a high school student at Preparatoria Uno, UADY, took second place among over 60 competitors from various countries.
Although he has participated in events of this magnitude before, nerves are always present, he said. In this international competition, he faced young physicists from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, and Guatemala.
“It was truly surprising to be announced as one of the winners,” Villegas said. “I realized that all my effort over a period of almost two years had paid off. I remember in secondary school I didn’t like physics much, but had an former Olympic friend who invited me to join this area. It wasn’t until I got to high school that I delved deeper.”
He recommended young people not to be afraid of physics, as it is a science that makes us understand how things work and is essential for human development.
“There’s no need to fear physics; it’s basically the motor of the world,” he said. “It allows us to understand how things function.”
Although this year marks the end of his high school career, Villegas stated that he will continue working to participate in similar competitions or help other students achieve national and international recognition.
In addition, David González, a professor from the School’s Natural Sciences department, noted that it takes around three years for young people to prepare for this level. They are selected and trained for six months at the school before participating in the state phase, followed by additional training to represent Yucatán nationally and internationally.
“This entire preparation allowed him to be selected for this international competition, which is not open to everyone,” González said. “He had to meet all the requirements and have a recommendation from the Mexican Physics Society.”
The professor highlighted that this is the fourth consecutive year that students from UADY’s Preparatoria Uno school have participated in an international physics competition and won medals: in 2021, at the Ibero-American Olympiad in Brazil; in 2022, another student competed in the International Olympiad in Sweden; and for 2023, another was selected to participate in Japan.
