Martina Solano Soto is dedicated to following her enthusiasm for physics and, in the end, to tackle significant challenges. From a young age, she has been plagued by numerous inquiries: Why do living creatures exist? What are our purposes here? Why is our understanding of the Big Bang so limited? With determination, she has sought to uncover the truths.
“That’s how I discovered MIT OpenCourseWare,” states Solano, hailing from Girona, Spain. “At 14, I began exploring and wanted to locate information that was trustworthy, engaging, and up-to-date. I stumbled upon MIT resources, and it has profoundly impacted my life.”
Beyond OpenCourseWare, which provides complimentary, online, open educational materials from over 2,500 courses covering the full MIT undergraduate and graduate syllabus, Solano also made use of the MIT Open Learning Library. A component of MIT Open Learning, this library offers free courses, allowing individuals to learn at their pace while also receiving prompt feedback through engaging material and tasks.
Now 17, Solano has explored quantum physics via OpenCourseWare — also a segment of MIT Open Learning — and she has undertaken courses from the Open Learning Library focused on electricity and magnetism, calculus, quantum computation, and kinematics. Additionally, she crafted her own syllabus, which included assignments, to help maintain her focus and keep her objectives clear. These aspirations involve pursuing math and physics at the undergraduate level, as well as wanting to delve into general relativity and quantum mechanics at the doctoral plateau. “I genuinely aspire to combine them to establish a theory of quantum gravity,” she expresses. “I wish to dedicate my life to study and learning.”
Solano drew significant inspiration from Barton Zwiebach, a physics instructor, whose courses Quantum Physics I and Quantum Physics II are listed on MIT OpenCourseWare. She took full advantage of the provided materials: video lectures, tasks, lecture notes, and examinations.
“I was captivated by his explanatory style. Everything clicked for me, and it was extraordinary,” she remarks. “Then, I discovered his book, ‘A First Course in String Theory,’ and it was him who introduced me to black holes and gravity. I’m exceedingly thankful.”
While Solano acknowledges the wealth and caliber of Open Learning materials, she emphasizes the significance of staying organized. As a high school student, her thoughts are occupied with more than just string theory: her academics, extracurricular activities, friendships, and family.
To anyone finding themselves in a similar situation, she suggests, “Identify what interests you most and how you can leverage the flexibility of Open Learning resources. Is there a half-hour available at night for watching a video or some time over the weekend to go through lecture notes? If you can figure out how to make it work for you, it’s absolutely worth the effort.”
“If you achieve that, you will grow both academically and personally,” Solano observes. “When you attend school, you will feel more self-assured.”
And Solano is not putting on the brakes. She intends to keep utilizing Open Learning resources, focusing on graduate-level courses next, all in service of her quest for knowledge and curiosity.
“As a child, I read ‘The God Equation’ by Michio Kaku, which elucidates quantum gravity theory. It stirred something within me,” she reminisces. “I am very eager to understand what occurs at the core of a black hole, and how we can unify quantum mechanics, black holes, and general relativity. I resolved to commit my life to this pursuit.”
She is making considerable progress. Last summer, Solano applied for and was awarded a scholarship to study particle physics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. This summer, she is seeking opportunities to explore the cosmos. All of this, she affirms, is solely feasible due to what she has gained through MIT Open Learning resources.
“The applications require you to articulate what you appreciate about physics, and thanks to MIT, I can convey that,” Solano mentions. “I am able to pursue these scholarships and genuinely strive for my aspirations.”