Jorge Isaac Valarezo Cadena is the National Champion of the 2023 History Tournament Nationals in Ecuador for the Varsity Division. He obtained the first place by accumulating 80 points. He has a promising student career. In addition to being a winner of the History Tournament, he is a good student of Social Sciences, Literature and Economics. At the end of July of this year he will also attending #IHO ´the International History Olympiad´ in Rome, as part of the #EcuadorianDelegation.
This is his story:
He is a senior student at Colegio Americano de Quito, and was previously studying at Colegio Charles Darwin. At both schools he has achieved distinguished merits due to his academic and sports performance. Likewise, Jorge has participated in the student council, and that on several occasions his classmates, teachers and friends have always chosen him as class president. His achievements have been celebrated with his parents, siblings, and grandparents, who are his main inspiration. Jorge recognizes the support of his family, and feels motivated when their loved ones are following his competitions.
In sports his strength are soccer and swimming, which have led him to compete outside the country in places such as: Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and the United States. He also trains in other sports such as basketball, boxing, golf, tennis and horse riding.
In academics, he has he has participated in declamation contests, and obtained first place. Before entering the Ecuadorian National History Tournament, he was facing setbacks along the way, because in those months he had school classes, extracurricular activities, homework, academic exams, and sports trainings. In fact, the day of the Grand Final of the History Tournament (#CompiteEcuador) he had to take the toefl exam. He arrived just in time to compete in the first preliminary round. He succeeded on both challenges. He won the History Final, and got a high enough test score that earned him an Academic Excellence scholarship from Loyola University in New Orleans where he will study Business Analytics.
As for his 5-year plan, he would like to focus his interest on philanthropy. He wishes to manage, support and/or create non-profit organizations that work on health, wellbeing, economy, justice, and opportunity for low-income families. He openly expresses that he “loves his country”, and that the fact of going to study abroad does not mean that he will forget his Ecuadorian roots. He simply wishes to learn innovative ideas, that he could implement to affect the Ecuadorian society from a political and/or business position.
Like other people his age, Jorge likes to go out with his friends, and loves sharing time with his family. In his free time, he likes to read, watch movies, or play sports. He also likes to travel, in fact, thanks to his adventurous traveling spirit, he knows almost all of Ecuador territory, and have studied the history of the places he has visited. Above all, he has a passion for learning.
As final words on his interview, Jorge Isaac advises people to be determined, and not to give up. Always give one hundred percent, trust in your strengths and keep up with a winning mentality. Assure yourself that everything is possible!