Carnegie Mellon University

Victoria Noquez

Victoria Noquez (S 2008)

Math major, world traveler

Bio

Learning from Hungary's leading mathematicians

For Victoria (Tori) Noquez, living in Budapest for a semester was a lesson in history and culture. She lived in a neighborhood that was once home to the headquarters of both the Arrow Cross Party and the Communist secret police, and she spent many of her evenings at the opera or ballet. Her days were spent learning mathematics from Hungary’s leading mathematicians.

Noquez, a senior mathematical sciences major, participated in the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics program during her junior year to take courses not available at Carnegie Mellon and for the chance to experience another language and culture. The program was established to bring North American students to Budapest to study under the tutelage of eminent Hungarian scholar-teachers. While in Budapest, Noquez took Topics in Geometry.

“Until my experience in Budapest, I thought I’d pursue a graduate education in Logic — my double major at Carnegie Mellon is in Logic and Computation — but I took a fantastic geometry course while I was there that completely changed my mind.”

Noquez is currently applying to graduate schools to pursue her interest in math, which was sparked initially by John Mackey’s Concepts in Mathematics course. She took the course during the summer after her junior year in high school as part of Carnegie Mellon’s Advanced Placement/Early Action program. After that summer, Noquez was invited to skip her senior year in high school to attend Carnegie Mellon; she began her freshman year when she was 16.