I won a lot just by trying.
A los diecinueve años, Juan Camilo Paternina Ramos, oriundo del barrio Pie de la Popa en Cartagena, fue admitido al programa de Ciencias de la Computación e Ingeniería del MIT, una de las universidades más selectivas del mundo. Lo que comenzó como una interrupción —una huelga estudiantil que lo obligó a abandonar sus estudios en Colombia y reubicarse en Boston— se convirtió en el umbral hacia una oportunidad extraordinaria. Su historia no es solo la de un joven brillante, sino la de alguien que supo transformar el desplazamiento en destino, y la pasión en credencial.
- Una huelga universitaria en Medellín interrumpió sus estudios y lo obligó a rehacer sus planes desde cero, convirtiendo la adversidad en punto de partida.
- Lejos de su familia y su ciudad, Paternina se abrió camino en un community college de Boston con un plan modesto: dos años de estudio antes de transferirse a una universidad de cuatro años.
- Al presentar el examen de admisión al MIT, obtuvo el puntaje más alto en la sección de matemáticas, confirmando lo que sus profesores en Cartagena ya intuían desde las olimpiadas escolares.
- Su trabajo como tutor de inglés y ciencias de la computación no solo afiló sus habilidades: le dio visibilidad, confianza y vínculos académicos que resultaron decisivos.
- En septiembre de 2026 comenzará sus estudios formales en el MIT, consciente de que sus compañeros serán medallistas olímpicos internacionales, pero decidido a demostrar que un joven de Cartagena puede llegar tan lejos como cualquiera.
Juan Camilo Paternina Ramos tenía diecinueve años cuando recibió la noticia de su admisión al MIT. La carta llegó en Boston, ciudad a la que había llegado meses antes tras una huelga estudiantil en la Universidad Nacional de Medellín que interrumpió su carrera. Lo que parecía un tropiezo se convirtió en apertura.
Crecido en el barrio Pie de la Popa de Cartagena, Paternina siempre vio en las matemáticas no una obligación sino un territorio de exploración. En su colegio, La Nueva Esperanza de Turbaco, se graduó con honores en 2023 y descubrió en décimo y undécimo grado que la programación y las matemáticas eran, en el fondo, el mismo lenguaje: una forma de pensar con claridad y encontrar soluciones elegantes.
Cuando la huelga lo devolvió a Cartagena en 2024, surgió la posibilidad de continuar sus estudios en un community college de Boston. Su plan era práctico: dos años allí, luego transferirse. Pero al avanzar en sus cursos, consideró algo más ambicioso. Se preparó para el examen de admisión al MIT y obtuvo el puntaje más alto en matemáticas. Su inglés, fortalecido como tutor de estudiantes de idiomas y de introducción a la computación, también fue clave. Ese rol le dio algo más que experiencia: relaciones con profesores y la seguridad que viene de explicar lo difícil a otros.
María Virginia Irisarri Foschini, directora de La Nueva Esperanza, destacó no solo su curiosidad intelectual —visible desde las olimpiadas de matemáticas— sino sus valores y su compromiso con los demás. Para una institución que lleva cinco generaciones formando estudiantes con excelencia académica e integridad humana, Paternina representa exactamente eso.
En septiembre de 2026 iniciará sus estudios en el MIT. Sabe que sus compañeros serán de los mejores del mundo, y que la dificultad aumentará. Pero ya ha recorrido un largo camino desde Cartagena. Su mensaje a otros jóvenes es directo: soñar en grande, aprender de todos, y encontrar la pasión genuina que hace que el esfuerzo valga la pena.
Juan Camilo Paternina Ramos was nineteen when he learned he had been accepted to MIT's Computer Science and Engineering program. The news arrived in Boston, where he was already living and studying at a community college, having left Colombia months earlier when a student strike disrupted the academic calendar at the National University in Medellín. What might have felt like a setback—being forced to pause his studies and relocate—became the opening through which one of the world's most selective universities would eventually find him.
Growing up in the Pie de la Popa neighborhood of Cartagena, Paternina had always been drawn to mathematics in a way that set him apart. Where many students saw a difficult, tedious subject, he saw a landscape for creation and problem-solving. That inclination deepened in his final years of secondary school at La Nueva Esperanza in Turbaco, where he graduated with honors in 2023. It was during tenth and eleventh grade that he discovered programming, and something clicked. Mathematics and code, he realized, were not separate disciplines but two expressions of the same impulse—to think clearly, to find elegant solutions, to understand how different minds approached the same challenge. "It's cool to see the difference between the various ways to solve a problem," he would later explain, "because some are better than others."
When the strike forced him back to Cartagena in 2024, an unexpected opportunity emerged: a chance to move to Boston and continue his education at a community college. His plan was modest and practical—study there for two years, then transfer to a four-year institution to finish his degree. But as he progressed through his coursework, he began to consider applying to MIT. The entrance process included a rigorous examination split between mathematics and English. He prepared thoroughly, and when the results came back, he had achieved the highest score in the mathematics section. His command of English, sharpened through work as a tutor for both language learners and students in introductory computer science courses, had also been essential. That tutoring role gave him something beyond academic credentials: relationships with professors, a sense of belonging in the intellectual community, and the confidence that came from explaining difficult concepts to others.
The admission itself was validation of years of work, but it was also something more personal. María Virginia Irisarri Foschini, the director of La Nueva Esperanza, spoke of Paternina's "exceptional intellectual curiosity" evident from early on—his participation in mathematics olympiads, his engagement with projects designed to challenge his thinking. But she emphasized that his achievement extended beyond grades and test scores. He had served as student advocate, demonstrating what she called "solid values" and a genuine concern for others. His family's support had been foundational throughout. For a school that had spent five generations cultivating students with both academic excellence and human integrity, Paternina embodied what the institution aimed for: young people capable of transforming the world through knowledge, but also through ethics and social commitment.
In September 2026, he would begin his formal studies at MIT. The prospect did not intimidate him, though he was clear-eyed about what lay ahead. His classmates would be international mathematics olympiad competitors, students accustomed to excellence at the highest levels. The difficulty would increase. But he had already traveled far from Cartagena—geographically, academically, in the scope of what he believed possible. "I know the difficulty will increase," he said, "but I'm willing to work hard to show that a young person from Cartagena and Colombia can go far and study at the best university in the world." His final words to other young people in his position were simple: dream large, pursue your goals despite obstacles, learn from everyone you meet, and above all, find the genuine passion that makes the work feel like something worth doing.
Citas Notables
It's cool to see the difference between the various ways to solve a problem, because some are better than others.— Juan Camilo Paternina Ramos, on what drew him to mathematics and computer science
For our institution, Juan Camilo represents the essence of what we seek: young people capable of transforming the world with knowledge, but also with ethics, sensitivity, and social commitment.— María Virginia Irisarri Foschini, director of La Nueva Esperanza
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What made mathematics feel different to you than it did to other students?
I think it was seeing it as a language for solving problems rather than a set of rules to memorize. When I discovered programming, it clicked—it was mathematics in motion, in a way. You could actually build something.
The strike that interrupted your studies in Medellín—did that feel like a failure at the time?
Honestly, yes. But it forced me to move to Boston, and that's where everything changed. Sometimes the obstacles are actually the path.
You tutored other students while taking your own classes. Why did that matter so much to you?
Teaching forces you to understand something deeply. You can't fake it. And you meet people—professors, other students—as a colleague, not just someone sitting in a lecture hall. That changes how you see yourself.
MIT is full of people who won international math olympiads. Does that intimidate you?
Of course. But I didn't get here by being the smartest person in the room. I got here by being curious, by working hard, and by learning from everyone around me. That's what I'm counting on continuing.
What would you tell a teenager in Cartagena right now who thinks MIT is impossible?
That it's not about where you're from. It's about finding something you genuinely love and pursuing it without letting geography or circumstance convince you it's not for you. I won a lot just by trying.