GN: My interest in computer science is quite recent. Since I was a little kid, I've always loved numbers, math, logic. For example, I always loved board games. I used to go to a lot of chess competitions when I was little. But I not only played the games, I was always trying to find out what’s the best move.

I tried poker, when I was older of course, and liked it a lot. Even the most basic card games, like Uno, you still use some logic. A lot of people just play the short run, but I always tried to think about which cards I’d need in the future. Sometimes I would eat some cards, trying to keep my powerful cards to do a comeback at the end.

Then I got interested in math. But in Costa Rica, according to my school, there were no primary school math Olympiads. Later on I learned there were, but I never did them. So then once the secondary school math Olympiads started, I did my first National in seventh grade. And I really loved the idea of competing in mathematics. It became a big passion.

But even though I love math, what I like most is not doing math for its own sake, just doing math problems, but rather being able to apply the logic. I wanted to do something that could be more related to the real world. Pursuing math on its own would be too theoretical for me. So that's why I went to computer science. It’s very similar. It’s still very logical. However, it’s much more connected to the real world, and the applications it has are huge. So I decided to try it out and I’m liking it.

GN: What I like is that I'm still exploring, so I'm not sure. If I had come to Cambridge and done math, I would have already known a lot of stuff. But with CS, pretty much everything was new when I came here. I just knew coding, that was it.

Take machine learning and AI. I thought it was a bit too popular. I felt like if everyone is doing that, I should try to do something different. But then I took a course and really liked it. People made operating systems and functional programming sound boring, but I took the courses and they were very interesting.

I like that at Cambridge, you can explore a lot of things. Cybersecurity sounds very interesting, but I have to explore it. I'm taking a course next year.

GN: This is something I am still thinking about a lot. I could stay more on computer science, like machine learning or cybersecurity. I am also interested in the quant side – relating computer science and math to the economy, looking at how we can track the economy based on logic and CS.

GN: I definitely grew the most with math competitions. Before that, I wanted to take more advanced math. I even reached out to the teacher, but it wasn’t possible. IB [International Baccalaureate] classes were only in the last two years of school. But at the end of seventh grade, I was able to join the math Olympiad. And there was a teacher who stayed with us one day a week after class. I really liked it, and he really motivated me.

I was able to get a silver medal in the National Olympiad, and that motivated me to keep going. I didn’t qualify for international competitions on my first try. But then I kept training, and later got a gold at the Nationals. After that, I was able to go to my first International. It was virtual, but still, it showed me the world that’s out there.

Olympiads are limitless. You actually get to apply your skills. You have super challenging problems. I loved it.

The opportunity to travel and meet people in the math community was very good. The worldwide math community is very supportive. Whenever you want to learn a topic, you could just text different people, “Hey, would you want to chat about this?” And they would just explain it. AoPS [The Art of Problem Solving course] is an example of the collaboration. In the math community, it’s competition but it’s more about sharing rather than bringing someone else down so you win.

GN: As people say, the best part of the competition is the friends and contacts you make. At the closing ceremony of the last IMO (International Math Olympiad), I was able to chat for maybe half an hour with super-famous mathematicians like Evan Chen, [Grant Sanderson who created the YouTube Channel] 3blue1brown, and Po-Shen Loh. And Terry Tao left me his lecture, which was pretty nice.

For memories of the actual competition, my favorite was in my last National. I was completely stuck on the second day. Super stuck! After maybe an hour and a half, I didn't have a single problem solved or any progress. And then something clicked, and in the next hour and a half, I solved the three of them. When I finished writing the last one, my hands were shaking so much I couldn't believe it. I was so excited, I literally couldn’t write my name on the paper.

The other moment was at the IMO. When I got the cutoff and learned I had a medal, I was so, so happy.

GN: Definitely try it out. It’s natural, especially when you’re young, to doubt yourself. I remember feeling unsure, like being in the top 100 in the country seems too hard, especially when you haven’t competed before. I thought, “I don't know if I’m on that level.”

So you always need to try. Even though you might be a bit scared, and it might seem like the others are geniuses and have been training all their lives, you should always try. I trained maybe three years and got to the IMO. So give it a shot. Trust yourself.

GN: I have a lot of hobbies! I’ve been playing drums for more than ten years. I love fishing, and wildlife photography with trail cameras. Whenever I go to a forest I try to find which animals are out there. I even do that in my house, because in Costa Rica we have a lot of nature. I’ve caught videos of armadillos, possums, lizards. And I'm a huge American football fan.

GN: I like it, especially the World Cup. But club football, I don't watch it much. I just like American football too much.

GN: I think they're very different. In American fantasy football, there's a lot of logic trying to build your team. It's not always straightforward. In one league, I got some injured players because you could get them for a cheaper price. Then they came back for the playoffs and it was a super good team.

With the cameras, there's a lot of strategy, like, where should I put the cameras? Which kind of food should I leave?

I love drumming, because you actually use your whole body. Other instruments just use your hands or fingers. Also, there's a lot of mental exercise to it, because you have to remember all the songs.

GN: Coming up, I have my first real work experience in something related to computer science. I'll actually be able to apply all these skills in the real world, so I'm really looking forward to that.