He's wrapping up his degree in physics - at 16

U of T’s youngest grad in decades says he hasn’t had the normal teenager experience, but it's been amazing’

- NATHAN BAWAAN

Daniel Honciuc Menendez started studying at U of T when he was 12.

Among the many students walking across the stage at convocation ceremonies this month will be the University of Toronto’s youngest graduate since at least 1979.

“It’s an honour to be graduating now,” said 16-year-old Daniel Honciuc Menendez, who will leave University College with a specialist in physics and a major in mathematics with high distinction.

Menendez started at U of T four years ago, at age 12 — although he spent his first year attending classes remotely from his home in Ecuador amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even though I was still able to talk to my classmates online — we had a Discord chat, we also had Instagram and Facebook Messenger chats — the experience wasn’t really complete,” he said of his first year.

In fall 2021, Menendez was finally able to travel to Toronto with his mother. He said his first in-person class, a practical physics lab session, is one of his favourite memories of his degree.

“It sounds a little bit cliché,” he said. “I loved how finally I could go interact with my professors, my classmates.”

Growing up, Menendez loved to read. In an interview with U of T’s media team, Menendez pointed to this as well as his interest in educational videos as the source of his passion for science.

Menendez moved around a lot when he was younger due to his mom’s job as an electrical engineer.

He started school in the U.K., skipping a grade, before returning to Ecuador where he skipped more grades while participating in advanced programs like the International Baccalaureate and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth.

A year before he started at U of T, then 11-year-old Menendez spent a summer at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, in a program for high schoolers interested in physics.