18/12/2017

Inspiring story: Willian Diego Oliveira, Cruzeiro do Oeste (PR)

Willian Diego Oliveira, 28 years old, gold medalist in the first edition of the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP) in 2005, was born in Paraná, lived in Paraguay and Mato Grosso do Sul, and today resides and studies in São José do Rio Preto, in the interior of São Paulo.

The student completed his master's degree in Mathematics at the São Paulo State University (UNESP) between 2011 and 2013, and then went on to pursue a PhD. His undergraduate degree, obtained between 2008 and 2011, was completed in Dourados (MS), at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD).

The possibility of studying Mathematics at university began to be considered much earlier, when I was still in elementary school, at a school in the city of Corpus Christi, in Paraguay.

“I had a very captivating math teacher, Osvaldo Duarte Fonseca, who was decisive in my choice,” he says. Even in Paraguay, Willian decided to do his high school education on the other side of the border, at the Guimarães Rosa State School, in the city of Sete Quedas (MS), so he could participate in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools).

“I started to have contact with the university environment, and that makes a big difference for a boy who comes from a humble family.”

“My classmates were saying that in 2005, Brazil would host the first edition of a mathematics olympiad aimed at public schools. I was immediately interested because I already really liked the subject and I thought that a good result in the competition could open doors for me. I entered Guimarães Rosa in the 1st year of high school and won the gold medal. I was the only medalist from the school,” he says.

In 2006, during his second year, Willian won the silver medal at the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools) and participated in the first edition of the Junior Scientific Initiation Program (PIC), intended for medalists from 2005.

In his third year, he won another gold medal. “I wanted to say goodbye to OBMEP on a high note. I prepared a lot and came in fifth best in level 3 (High School) nationwide.” In his opinion, participation in OBMEP and, especially, in PIC, was fundamental to his school life.

“I started to have contact with the university environment, and that makes a big difference for a boy who comes from a humble family in a small town.”

From Paraná to Paraguay

Willian was born in Cruzeiro do Oeste (PR), in the northwest of Paraná, a city with 21,000 inhabitants. An only child, he lived during his childhood and adolescence with his mother, maternal grandparents, and four uncles. "I was raised by my mother, who worked as a domestic worker and took on some sewing jobs."

Four years later, the family moved to Paraguay, to the small town of Corpus Christi, near the border with Brazil. “My grandfather thought there would be more work for his five children in Paraguay. The idea was to start over in a new land where there would be more opportunities.”

Willian started school late due to the difficulty of obtaining documents. He entered school when he was almost eight years old – four years after his family settled in the neighboring country.

My grandfather was a bricklayer and a maker of balaios (baskets that can be made of straw, bamboo, or other materials). "Balaios were the main source of income for our family during my childhood and early adolescence," he recalls.

From a very young age, Willian worked to supplement his family's income. From ages 5 to 8, he helped make baskets. Between the ages of 8 and 15, he sold savory snacks, sweets, and ice cream on the streets of Corpus Christi.

"I would get these products from restaurant and snack bar owners and sell them in the city and neighboring towns."

Until he was 15, he started working as a clerk in small shops. “I was very well-regarded in the city, and the shopkeepers knew they could leave the shop with me. In Paraguay, we had to work very hard to earn any money.”

Between the ages of 17 and 18, at the beginning of high school, Willian went to work in "sack processing," a common job in the border region. "During harvest season, we were paid to unload trucks that were going from Paraguay to Brazil, and load the cargo onto other trucks."

He studied in the morning and worked in the afternoon – and sometimes at night as well. Because of the excessive weight he had to carry, he suffered a vertebral injury, which caused him pain for a long time.

PIC Scholarship

Starting in his second year of high school, the boy began receiving a R$100 scholarship from the PIC program. “That amount was money for us! My mother, a domestic worker, earned a little more than that per month. The PIC was like having a second mother working for me.”

No one in the family had completed elementary school, and William was already in his second year of high school and even had a scholarship to study mathematics.

"As I participated in OBMEP and PIC, I was able to study more and work less."

“I used to juggle school in the morning with work in the afternoon and evening. I had a different destiny. As I participated in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools) and the PIC (Scientific Initiation Program), I was able to study more and work less. Seeing that I could really have a better future through studying, my mother started taking on more jobs so that I could stay home studying.”

Since he chose to attend high school in Brazil, Willian had to travel 30 kilometers from his home in Corpus Christi to school.

“The distance wasn’t that great, but the road was terrible, and the journey took an hour and a half or more. Besides the potholes and mud, the old bus broke down frequently. So, if it got stuck or broke down on the way there, we’d go back home and miss class; if it had a problem on the way back, we’d walk the rest of the way home. It was a real mess.”

To attend the in-person PIC classes, Willian would leave on Friday night, take two buses – one in Paraguay and another in Brazil – and sleep in a hotel in the city where the center was located. The return trip, according to him, was more complicated, since the bus on the Paraguayan side didn't run on Sundays. "I would take the bus to the border and walk home. It took about five hours, and that's because, in some parts, I had to run a bit."

But that was at the beginning of the PIC. To help the young man more easily overcome the "geographical barriers," professors Sônia Regina Di Giacomo – former coordinator of Scientific Initiation in Mato Grosso do Sul and current coordinator of the OBMEP Mathematics Clubs – and Sidnei Azevedo de Souza gave him a bicycle as a gift, which he then used for transportation on the Paraguayan side on the days he went to and from the PIC.

"It was a wonderful gift. The bicycle was beautiful and helped me a lot. From the border to my house, it took me approximately an hour and a half to cycle, almost the same time as the bus."

At age 20, Willian moved to Dourados (MS) to pursue a degree in Mathematics at UFGD. “I went to live at Professor Sidnei’s house, who is still my friend today, and I soon got a job at a pizzeria, where I did a little bit of everything.”

Shortly after undergoing surgery for a ruptured appendix, which nearly cost him his life, he went to live for about six months with a couple of professors – Edson and Lilian Milena Rodrigues de Carvalho – whom he met at the university. “With them and the other professors, I learned a lot, especially about the value of helping another person for pleasure, without expecting anything in return.”

The missing medal

Today, in addition to completing his PhD and becoming a researcher, Willian has another project, which says a lot about his "Olympic spirit".

In Corpus Christi, the city's anniversary is celebrated with a big party and a traditional 15-kilometer race.

In his final years of elementary school, Willian trained and participated in the competition, but he didn't place among the top finishers. Today, he runs three times a week and never misses a game of soccer.

"When I feel like I'm in shape, with plenty of energy for runs and pickup games with my teammates, I immediately remember the competition in Corpus Christi and think: one day I'll go back there and win that race."