Nagbigay ng karangalan sa Pilipinas noong 2017 si Hillary Diane Andales nang maging kauna-unahang Pinoy winner ng Breakthrough Junior Challenge, isang international contest.
Tinalo ni Hillary ang 11,000 contestants mula sa iba’t ibang panig ng mundo.
Ginawaran si Hillary ng $250,000 (PHP12 million) bilang scholarship at pagkakataong makapag-aral sa anumang university na pipiliin niya.
Ang Breakthrough Junior Challenge ay isang worldwide science video competition.
Ipapaliwanag ng isang contestant sa simpleng paraan ang isang complex science concept via video.
Ang napiling topic noon ni Hillary ay ang Relativity and the Equivalence of Reference Frames ni Albert Einstein.
Matapos manalo, nagkaroon siya ng admission sa U.S. universities. Kabilang dito ang Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, Princeton University, Cornell University, at Stony Brook University sa New York.
Sa Pilipinas, nagka-offer siya sa University of the Philippines, Ateneo De Manila University, at De La Salle University.
Ang piniling paaralan ni Hillary ay ang MIT.
Paliwanag niya sa panayam sa kanya ng ABS-CBN News noong July 2019, "Makakasalamuha ko yung mga magagaling na students from all around the world.
"Yung mga professors din, sobrang amazing… yung mga Nobel Prize winners, sila yung magiging prof namin.”
Sinimulan ni Hillary ang kanyang pag-aaral sa MIT noong August 2019.
Hillary's winning Science video is about Relativity and the Equivalence of Reference Frames by Albert Einstein
Prestihiyoso ang annual Breakthrough Prize dahil nagbibigay daan ito para sa future scientists.
Noong 2017, ang Hollywood actor na si Morgan Freeman ang naging host ng Breakthrough Prize Ceremonies kung saan si Hillary ang pinangalanang winner.
Ito ang opening spiel ng respetadong aktor: "How many Albert Einsteins and Marie Curies have come and gone unknown because they lack the ability to describe their own ideas.
“Sadly, the brightest spark would die if it does not catch. That’s why we need not just great scientists but great communicators who can tell nature’s story in a way that whips us.”
Tinawag rin ni Morgan si Hillary bilang “incredible Science communicator.”
Ang nag-present ng award noon ay ang Breakthrough Prize founder na si Julia Milna at ang Hollywood actress na si Lily Collins (Emily In Paris).
Si Einstein, isang German, ay itinuturing na isa sa greatest physicists at ginawaran ng Nobel Prize in Physics noong 1921.
Si Marie Curie naman ay ang Polish-French physicist na ginawaran ng Nobel Prize in Chemistry noong 1911.
hillary is a FUTURE SCIENTIST
Kuwento ni Hillary sa ABS-CBN News noong 2019, bata pa lamang siya, binusog na siya ng kanyang mga magulang ng mga kuwento tungkol sa Science.
"Instead of those fairy tales, they told me stories of Marie Curie’s struggles as a woman of science in the early 20th century.
“They told me about Charles Darwin’s adventures in the Galapagos Islands, and how Einstein had a really big idea that revolutionized Physics.”
Ang bonding daw nilang pamilya ay pupunta sa beach at magkukuwento ang kanilang mga magulang tungkol sa moon landing ng Apollo mission.
“Telescope, microscope, binibili yun ng parents ko sa akin,” ani Hillary.
“Kahit di kami rich, they find ways to support our academic interests.”
Taong 2016, hinikayat siya ng kanyang ina na sumali sa Breakthrough Junior Challenge.
Ani Hillary, “Yung mga entrants kailangan gumawa ng video na nag-e-explain ng complex concept in Physics, Life Sciences, or Math.”
Sa unang subok, 6,000 ang contestants.
Hindi nagwagi ng first prize si Hillary, pero pumangatlo siya.
Sabi pa niya, “Dahil sa special prize, yung school ko nakatanggap ng molecular biology lab or DNA learning center."
Ang laboratory na ito ay matatagpuan ngayon sa Philippine Science High School Eastern Visayas Campus, kung saan nag-aral ng high school si Hillary.
Hillary explains her interest in Science is hugely an influence by her parents.
YOLANDA TRAGEDY
Sa interview ay binalikan din ni Hillary nang maranasan nilang pamilya na mabiktima ng Yolanda typhoon noong 2013.
Lahad niya, “We didn’t evacuate kasi we didn’t have a second floor.
“So, pumunta kami sa double-deck bed, and my dad punched the ceiling and doon na lang kami sa steel trusses of the roof.
“And we held on those streel trusses for seven hours.”
"I WILL ALWAYS CARRY THE FLAG OF THE PHILIPPINES"
Bago siya lumipad noon sa Amerika para mag-aral, sinabi ni Hillary na nais niyang mag-pursue ng career sa research at science communication.
“And, hopefully, promise that I will help the Philippines by pursuing these careers.
“Gusto ko talagang mag-pursue about science.”
Natutuwa raw siya kapag may mga nakikilala siyang mga batang interesado sa space, moon, Venus, at climate change.
“Nasisiyahan ako pag may mga moments na ganoon,” ani Hillary.
Aniya pa noon, “I will always carry the flag of the Philippines.”
Nagbigay naman ng update si Hillary tungkol sa kanyang buhay ngayon via Ask Theory podcast nitong January 22, 2022.
Siya ay junior college student na ngayon sa MIT.
“I’m majoring in Physics, but my particular interest is in Astrophysics and Astronomy,” aniya.
Hillary says after winning Breakthrough Junior Challenge in 2017, she has met so many students who are interested in Science as well.
Ang Astronomy ay pag-aaral sa space, habang ang Astrophysics ay ang pag-aaral tungkol sa astronomical objects at phenomena gamit ang method sa physics at chemistry.
“After learning how huge the universe is, that’s how I started to get interested in the scale of the universe, how the universe was,” ani Hillary tungkol sa kanyang interes.
Aniya tungkol sa kanyang misyon sa buhay: “to uncover and appreciate the wonders of the universe and to share it with the rest of the world.”
RETURN TO THE PHILIPPINES IS CERTAIN
Bilang aspiring scientist, aminado si Hillary na nakakaramdam siya ng pressure mula sa ibang tao.
Pero mas malaking pressure na iyon ay galing sa sarili. Buti na lang daw at may matibay siyang support system.
“My professors in college, I also see them as basically gods.
“But when they share they failed, when they share their vulnerabilities, when they share how they failed their classes back then, how they failed to get a job…
“Basically sharing failures, those kinda make me feel better because you can still achieve a lot while being completely human.”
Hindi raw tiyak ni Hillary kung kailan siya babalik ng Pilipinas.
Pero malinaw sa kanyang uuwi siya at kung ano ang mga nais niyang gawin pagbalik.
“I do have very clear goals of coming back. The question is when.
“But once I do come back, I do really want to be involved in science education, science policy, build community for aspiring scientists, or building support network, infrastructure for scientists.”
Payo naman niya sa mga nangangarap na maging scientists: “Believe in yourself. This sounds very cliché, but it does work.”
Hillary is now a junior student at the Massachusetts Institute Technology taking up Physics.
Sa nakalipas daw na apat na taon, marami siyang natatanggap na mga mensahe mula sa mga estudyanteng walang kumpiyansa sa sarili.
“They say that, ‘I’m not good enough for science, ‘I’m not smart enough,' but that’s not true.
“Because these things can all be learned. These things are not fixed rates.
“You are not born like that. You are able to grow develop yourself.”