TORONTO -- The concept of 鈥渜uantum tunnelling鈥� sounds like it would take at least an hour to explain -- but it only took one Fort McMurry, Alta. teenager three minutes, in a video that won an international competition and scored new funding for her future and her school.
Maryam Tsegaye, 17, used her love of science to score the winning prize in the Breakthrough Junior Challenge last, a competition in which thousands of students across the world create short videos to express a science or mathematics concept.
鈥淚t was really crazy, I didn鈥檛 believe it at all when I found out,鈥� Tsegaye told 麻豆影视 Channel on Wednesday. She鈥檚 known about her win for two weeks, but had to keep it on 鈥渢he down low,鈥� until the winner was announced on December 3.
The monumental prize included $250,000 to go towards her schooling, a $100,000 science lab for her small high school, and $50,000 for her science teacher.
Tsegaye said she was 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� surprised by the win.
She was in class at her school, Ecole McTavish Public High School, in Fort McMurray, when she was surprised with a video message from two of the judges for the contest.
鈥淢y favourite [entry] was this absolutely remarkable explanation of a complex topic called quantum tunnelling,鈥� astronaut Scott Kelly said in the video.
When the two announced that she had won, Tsegaye clapped her hands over her mouth, clearly shocked. It wasn鈥檛 long before she was in tears. The heartwarming moment was captured on camera and .
鈥淭he door is wide open now,鈥� her father said in an interview in that video. 鈥淎nd she can go anywhere.鈥�
鈥淚 decided to enter because I鈥檓 really into science and science communication, and I do believe in science communication,鈥� Tsegaye told 麻豆影视 Channel.
鈥淚 picked quantum tunnelling because it鈥檚 a quantum phenomenon that I鈥檇 never heard of until I was researching for the competition, and I was completely taken away with the whole topic and fell down a spiral of articles and everything.鈥�
So what is quantum tunnelling?
In her winning video -- which had to be less than three minutes -- Tsegaye started off by referencing a cheat code in a video game her brother had played, which allowed characters to move through walls.
鈥淚magine if you could walk through walls in real life!鈥� she said in the video. 鈥淎nd it turns out you can -- at a quantum level.鈥�
Using drawings and short animations, she explained concepts that are hard for many grown adults to grasp. Quantum mechanics concerns particles smaller than atoms which can move in extremely peculiar ways. Quantum tunnelling, according to her video, is the term for when electrons moving in a wave have a chance of making it through a barrier instead of bouncing off, something that makes nuclear fusion -- and by extension, life on Earth -- possible.
If that sounds confusing, it might help
鈥淚 tried to explain it with video games and dice and things like that as an analogy,鈥� she said.
To win the prize, she had to stand out among the roughly 5,600 students competing around the world. But she pulled it off.
鈥淸The judges] said that it was a really good explanation,鈥� Tsegaye said.
Katherine Vladicka, Maryam鈥檚 teacher, is also a winner, receiving $50,000 for her role in Tsegaye鈥檚 learning process. In a video on Breakthrough鈥檚 website, she said she was 鈥渟o proud鈥� of Tsegaye.
鈥淪he took a really complex idea and broke it down so simply, and she was funny, and it was just -- it was brilliant,鈥� she said.
Tsegaye said Vladicka was 鈥渙ne of her favourite鈥� teachers, and that 鈥渟he definitely deserves [the prize].鈥�
When it comes to subjects like science and math, Tsegaye believes there鈥檚 some 鈥渟ocial conditioning鈥� at play that makes them seem more inaccessible.
鈥淧eople are told that science and math are intimidating, and that鈥檚 what they tend to believe, but I think if it鈥檚 explained properly and it is approached differently, then a lot more kids would be involved in science,鈥� she said.
鈥淪cience just tries to answer everything in our world, everything that we know and things that we don鈥檛 know. Why wouldn鈥檛 you love science?鈥�
She鈥檚 currently applying to different universities, trying to figure out where she wants to go to pursue her dreams -- but this prize has undoubtedly opened up new paths for not only her, but the future students at her high school who will be able to take advantage of the new science lab.
Ecole McTavish Public High School has only around 900 students, according to its website, and spans Grade 7-12.
Scott Barr, the principal, said in a video on Breakthrough鈥檚 website that Tsegaye鈥檚 legacy at the school 鈥渋s going to live on.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 going to forever change kids鈥� lives in this building,鈥� he said.
