12/04/2021

In the book "Inspiring Stories from OBMEP": Jéssica Bóschi

Pure logic, quick reasoning: that's what Jéssica Bóschi liked most about the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP) exams. She won an honorable mention in her first participation, in 2005, at the beginning of high school. In her last exam, two years later, she achieved what would define her life in many aspects from then on: a silver medal. With it, the Paraná native from Chopinzinho, a city of 20,000 inhabitants in the southwest of the state, received the PIC Junior scholarship and, every 15 days, traveled to Dois Vizinhos (PR), where she experienced a different kind of mathematics than how it was taught in school.

“The medal was a light on my path, a sign, it helped me choose Mathematics when it came time to go to college. I didn't see myself doing that, I thought only geniuses could study Mathematics. I learned that it was possible,” says Jéssica, 26, who has been teaching analytical geometry, linear algebra, and differential and integral calculus at the Federal Technical University of Paraná (UTF-PR) in Dois Vizinhos since 2015.

The first year of college wasn't easy. Jéssica studied at UTF in Pato Branco, an hour's drive from home. To help her family, she worked as a purchasing assistant during the day. At night, she went to classes. Maintaining focus on her academic career was a challenge. “ I needed to make ends meet and couldn't dedicate myself to college. I had expenses for bus fare, food, it was very difficult. I did elementary and high school in public schools, I had basic weaknesses in math. In the end , I tried my best and finished the first year without failing, just me and four others in a class of 30.”

Her dedication caught the attention of the Peruvian professor Santos Richard Sanguino Wiler Benjarano. He was the professor of Calculus 1 who most intimidated the students. At the end of that year, he called Jéssica in for a chat and told her she could get a scholarship. It was a great motivation, because it would be possible to stop working and dedicate herself exclusively to her studies. But, as soon as the scholarship came through, Jéssica got an even better one, for two years, through PICME. “I only got the scholarship because of the silver medal. From then on, I spent the whole day at the university. I practically slept,” she laughs, remembering the turning point, without which the order of events that followed would have been different.

In her third year, Jessica began studying subjects more focused on teaching mathematics with Professor Janecler Colombo. Together, they developed projects in the area of teaching tools, creating materials, games, and instruments to aid in learning mathematics. Until then, she didn't see herself as a teacher. That's when she realized she had a vocation for teaching.

Last year, without the R$400 scholarship from Picme, Jéssica was already so respected among the teachers that she managed to get back the academic scholarship she had had to give up in her second year. It was a scholarship from the teaching initiation project, once again with the help of Professor Benjarano. She gave tutoring classes in schools and helped prepare students for the exam that changed her path: the OBMEP.

“I decided at that moment that I would be a teacher. There are many challenges for a teacher. The biggest one , and the one that motivated me the most, is: how to make students want to learn? When you see a sparkle in their eyes, a desire, curiosity, it makes you want to teach even more,” she affirms .

But her journey was only beginning. Jessica earned a master's degree in Algebra, also thanks to a professor who influenced her in college and who taught algebraic structures – “she explained Pure Mathematics with incredible ease, I thought it was amazing.” And, once again, the silver medal smiled upon her. “I received a two-year scholarship for my master's program because of the medal. Picme is my whole life. I look back and think with emotion about everything I 've done since that medal. I'm so glad I had an enlightened mind when I took that exam,” she reflects .

She completed her master's degree at the Federal University of Santa Maria (RS). Jéssica never stopped: she passed the selection process to teach at UFT-PR before finishing her master's degree and began working as a substitute professor of Mathematics. In 2015, she took on the role of full professor of subjects in the bioprocess and biotechnology engineering and software engineering courses . “I still need a doctorate. It's the next step, the next rung on the ladder. It's what every professor aspires to, because learning never ends,” she affirms . Her father, Rudimar Bóschi, is extremely proud of Jéssica.

“I didn’t have opportunities to study in life, I had family problems, so I’m very proud of who she is today. Very! It was an immeasurable joy when she won the silver medal, when she entered college, then her master’s degree. Now she’s a teacher. When she was 3 years old, I taught her numbers. She already knew how to count easily, she learned with a calendar. She makes me very happy because she’s like that: she’s always learning,” says her father. “I get very emotional when I talk about my daughter .”

* Text taken from the book “Inspiring Stories of OBMEP”