Joriam Martinez Parra Makes Decision: Harvard

by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

Joriam Martinez had a tough decision to make: accept a scholarship offer from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or one from Harvard University.

He visited both campuses and made the decision recently to attend Harvard on a full scholarship.

Joriam realizes that not many students get the opportunity to go the Ivy League school in Cambridge, Mass.

“Both are excellent schools. But at the end, it was a special program that Harvard had that interested me the most. They have more research opportunities with links across the world.”

Joriam is especially interested in Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative, an interdisciplinary center involving a collaboration from the fields of Astronomy, Physics Mathematics and Philosophy. The BHI is the first center worldwide to focus on the study of black holes.

He also has an interest in theoretical physics and quantum mechanics, two areas that well-known scientist Albert Einstein studied.

Joriam, the seventh-ranked student in the Class of 2018 – was named an AP Scholar and Hispanic Scholar. He also found time to be involved in UIL Science, UIL Mathematics, Science Bowl, National Honor Society and Key Club.

Joriam’s acceptance and scholarship offer to MIT was helped by his invitation and participation in a summer program at MIT in 2017. He was one of 80 students from across the country accepted into the six-week science and engineering program for rising high school seniors.

Two teachers were influential in his success. “I have always sought and paved my own path. However, many people have made a powerful impact on which path I ended up choosing – teachers like Mrs. (Misty) Heredia and Mr. (Jose) Pesina.”