What would you do when, during Science Camp,
you're put together with three friends,
you are given a piece of thread
and they ask you to calculate the width of a creek?
You discuss and try to see what to do with the thread,
you cross the creek a thousand times,
and try to see how many times will the thread fit in it.
You will be tired and wet for sure.
Then, almost frozen, exhausted and soaking wet,
I wondered if there was a way to calculate that width
without getting more wet.
And then, I stood on the shore
and started to watch.
And I understood that three distances were formed there.
From my feet to my eyes,
from my eyes to the other shore
and from that shore to where I was standing.
And I remembered:
Soh Cah Toa! (Laughter)
A basic trigonometry concept
that seemed unnecessary until that moment,
was giving me the answer to a real problem.
And even though that situation was very simple
the process I had to make at that time
was very different to anything I had done before.
Because it was mine.
It was real.
And something inside of me woke up,
something that was asleep
just because I believed I couldn't.
But that time I could and I went crazy
about knowing more about things and reality.
So I started searching for similar experiences to this camp.
I went to the Balseiro Institute, I convinced my friends
to make a solar water distiller for a CONICET contest.
I got into scholarships, Olympics and camps to continue learning.
So, through the year,
I became "science girl" at school.
But then this happened.
I got a 7 in almost all subjects.
I guess it was because I was growing, right?
I mean --
it's normal to lose those interests through time.
Even more when you are a kid that suddenly
gets to a new world, full of obligations
and things that take time from what you considered was essential.
Look, during all our high school years
in order to pass all the subjects,
all Argentinean kids are asked to get more than 6 or 7.
I remember that when I was little I had this concept of school
as a place to learn exclusively
and to be marveled with new stuff.
I dreamed to be an astronaut, to be a scientist,
I remember I used to play with my friends
to be what we wanted to be when we grew old.
My friend RocĂo would always start to draw,
saying that someday she would be an animator.
Today, RocĂo is almost 19
and started the English Translator degree.
What happened with her dream during those 10 years of her life?
She must have changed her mind.
She realized she didn't like that.
I asked her and her answer was something like:
"What happens is that to be an animator you have to study math.
And I've always failed it.
However, I always got high grades at English.
It is easier for me."
And this happens because school
is the only official reference kids have
about our intellectual and academic performance.
And that's the result that a simple grade has
inside the educational system:
you end up not following your passion.
Because not only you get a 3 or a 4,
you are a 3 or a 4.
And you will continue to be that 3 or 4.
Grades end up separating us from 1 to 10.
You, the 10 boy, are the best of all.
You, the 1, be ready for what will come.
That contradiction of being the science girl and a 7 at once,
made me realize that actually,
if you finish school
and have the courage to go to university,
you'll probably fall into what you were told before.
You make a balance of the best grades you had
or the easiest subjects for you,
and you look for a career that is similar to that.
So a lot of times what we learn at school is:
"If I get high grades in this subject,
I must like this, so this is what I should do.
And during the rest of high school,
you just focus on passing subjects.
In the end, students learn to be students.
And to answer only what we are asked.
But, when do we actually learn?
It took me a lot of effort to understand that I was more than my grade.
That I am more than those sevens.
And when I did, my grades didn't change much.
What did change was that I started learning.
But how long can you be a rebel and not care about grades?
I mean, you can avoid them in December, March, or even the next year,
but if your revolution fails you have to repeat the year.
We can't do this alone.
We need help.
The educational system needs a change.
And I am sure that the passion and interest
that my friend has for drawing,
is worth more than a 3 or a 4.
School must be the place that teach us to think.
To search for what we love.
To be how we want to be
and not how the numbers tell us we are.
Today, my report will say I'm a 7.
My partners, teachers and my whole school
will still have the contradiction of "science girl" full of sevens.
But for myself, I am more than a number.
Now, grades,
are they really necessary?
I don't know.
But to show us, during all our learning process,
that we are and can much more than those numbers
and I'm convinced that it is absolutely essential.
Thank you.
(Applause)