This week sees the last in a four-part series highlighting the experiences so far of faculty and students new to NCSSM. Meet NCSSM-Durham junior Noah Martinez.

Who are they?

A unicorn at a cross country meet brought Rocky Mount’s Noah Martinez to NCSSM-Durham, though he didn’t arrive astride the creature’s back. 

“When I was 7, I was at one of my older brother’s invitationals and I saw this (NCSSM team) canopy tent with a unicorn on it, and that kind of intrigued me,” Noah says. “I wondered, ‘What school has the mascot of a unicorn?’ And I looked it up and I learned more and I’ve wanted to come to Science and Math ever since.”

For the next few years Noah redoubled his efforts in the classroom, and became involved in a number of extracurriculars to round out his preparation for NCSSM. “I did a lot of interesting stuff that I probably would have not tried if I wasn’t going to apply,” he says.

As to be expected, Noah was nervous in the days leading up to move-in, wondering if he would make new friends, and if NCSSM might be as cliquey as lots of other schools. 

Those worries were alleviated within hours of moving in. 

“Everyone was just happy and greeting me on that very first day,” Noah says. They would come up to you and talk to you and stuff and I was like, wow, this is kind of cool. And on the first day of classes it was really nice to meet people and see all these new people who had smiles on their faces as they’re trying to learn. They’re just as happy to be here as I am.”

The academic rigor of NCSSM is often an initial shock to incoming students, though. Noah admits to bumping up against that, but he’s figuring out how to manage. “The amount of school work we have and the difficulty of some classes, especially math, has taken some getting used to, but I regularly visit teachers during their office hours and they’re really helpful if you get stuck.”

All interviews in this series were conducted prior to Hurricane Helene and its devastating effects on Western North Carolina. Our thoughts continue to be with those who have suffered so greatly in its aftermath.