Prize Recipient

Marcos Vicente

Background:

My name is Marcos Steven Vicente. I was born on September 2nd, 1983 in Silverspring, MD. I spent all my childhood and teenage years in Frederick, Maryland. While growing up I showed great interest in mathematics. For a long while I wanted to be an engineer. Then more and more I wanted to be unique. I wanted to do something that would challenge me, and that most people couldn't handle. So I looked at high school as a way to search for that challenge. I was an ordinary student at Frederick High School. I never really considered myself as a bright student, but I guess I wasn't aware of my potential. During my freshman and sophomore year of high school, my interest in math was growing. To me, numbers always made sense. The fact of finding a solution seemed like a challenge. I found myself not able to sleep when I couldn't figure out a math problem, and I would work and work and work till I solved it. So during those first two years of high school, I wanted to become a Mathematician. Then my junior year, I took my first physics class. From that day on, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I found it so interesting because I was learning about how the world works, but at the same time I was able to use my math skills. I remember clearly going to my mom and dad, telling them I wanted to be a physicist. Of course, they thought it was just a phase, but soon they saw that I enrolled in AP physics my senior year. My parents soon noticed my own personal library of physics books, which included works from Einstein and Hawking. My friends in high school thought that I was crazy for wanting to do something like physics, because it was something that they couldn't handle. So now I find myself pursing a degree in Physics with a Math minor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where my love for physics still continues. Everybody keeps telling me that you must be one smart man to get involved in area like physics. But to this day, I don't consider myself as "smart," but just a young man curious about the world and willing to take the time and dedication to unravel it.