Honciuc Menendez, the 16-year-old international student from Ecuador, has become the youngest to graduate from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Arts and Science since 1979, the year the University started tracking such data.
Vivian Xie, another 16-year-old student did graduate from the school in 2021 but Menendez is a bit younger.
He earned a specialist degree in physics and a major in mathematics.
While talking to CTV ahead of his graduation, Menendez said: “I’m really proud and excited to be graduating from UofT. I’m excited for convocation on Friday because it’s the culmination of four years of hard work and research.”
He said his interest in science started when he was very young. He travelled many times with his mother due to her career as an engineer, and he was constantly had access to books.
He said: “I was surrounded by books like math books, puzzle books, encyclopedias and atlases. Even before starting school, I was captivated by educational videos, websites and apps. I loved going to museums. I loved going to science festivals”
According to him, he was able to read sometime between one and two years old. He started started grade school at four years and developed an interest in programming and robotics. He took advanced classes at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Centre for Talented Youth and when he was 10, he skipped four more grades and entered Grade 11. He graduated from high school at 12 with a full International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
He took part in a summer program in theoretical physics at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario, which helped in cementing his future plans one year before he graduated.
He said: “That’s when I started to get interested in quantum information and where I also solidified my interest in pursuing research in physics as part of a career,”
The experience also triggered his decision to accept an admission offer from the University of Toronto after he was offered admission in 12 universities across the globe.
He said: “The reason why I also applied to universities in Canada is because I really liked the environment. The openness of the people. Also because of the research opportunities that were given by the department of physics at the university.”
Menendez partook in many research projects at the university, including his first research with Professor Miriam Diamond, which delved into dark matter detection with the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment at SNOLAB, an underground research facility close to Sudbury for neutrino and dark matter studies.
In a statement made available to CTV News Toronto, Miriam Diamond, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Toronto said: “Daniel has a grounded ‘big picture’ view of life and is mature beyond his years. He also has this sense of childlike wonder that many of us unfortunately lose over time.
“This enthusiasm for research and discovery will take him far and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.”
Menendez plans to keep pursuing higher education and researching quantum information and high-energy physics. He has gotten a full scholarship from the European Union to pursue a Master of Science degree in physics with specialization in quantum science and technology.
The Master’s program will take place over two years at the Sapienza University of Rome in Italy, later Université Paris-Saclay in France, and lastly at the University of Toronto. According to him, he eventually wants to pursue a PhD in physics to investigate further the intersection between quantum information and high-energy physics.
Menendez revealed he’s very grateful for his friends, professors and mentors at the University of Toronto supportd him in navigating the “complexities of academic life and the personal challenges of being a young student.”
He also thanked his mother who moved with him to Toronto when he was just 12 so that he could attend University of Toronto.
He said: “I’m also very thankful for the unconditional support from my mother. She really taught me perseverance and resilience, She was a working single mother, and she really helped me a lot and supported me throughout this process and supported me throughout this journey in my life.”