Physics was the hardest subject for her, so she chose to study it in university

How do you choose what to major in university?  

For some, it comes down to passion and interest. For others, it’s about what they excel at. And of course, there are those who choose based on what’ll make them the most money.  

For Mariya Koropenko, though, her major was chosen based on what she struggled with the most.  

“I like studying overall,” Koropenko, who is studying in Kyushu University, says. “I like studying pretty much anything. But physics was like the hardest subject for me. I could do math, but I cannot do physics. I just didn’t understand it.” 

So why major in Physics?

Throughout high school, she always struggled with physics. While she did well in other classes, she would get horrible grades in the science subject. Deciding that she wouldn’t be able to learn physics on her own, she thought why not get some of Japan’s best minds teach her?  

To her, it didn’t make sense to go to university for something that she already understood or could learn on her own.  

And she understood that physics is “very, very important” in today’s world. 

While many get daunted by things they don’t understand, Koropenko decided the only way to conquer it is to run directly into it. And so far, so good.  

Now a final year student and also the founder and representative of Kyushu University’s Physics Society, Koropenko believes she has a good grip on the subject.  

“It took me a lot of work, but I think that I can understand it now,” she says. 

Koropenko started a society now called PhysiKyu for students to study physics together. Source: Mariya Koropenko

Minoring in economics

Koropenko’s minor is economics, another subject she’s taken interest in.  

Specifically, her focus has been on researching game theory. In fact, she has been a member of her university’s Game Theory Lab since her third year.  

In economics, game theory is the mathematical study that looks at strategic interactions, analysing how rational individuals, firms, or governments make decisions when the outcome of their choices depends on the actions of others.  

Game theory provides a framework to model and predict behavior in various scenarios, such as price competition, advertising campaigns, and negotiations. It does so by considering the strategies and expected choices of all “players” in the game.  

“In theory, economics assume that consumers are rational people,” she says. “In game theory research, we say that this world is not so perfect, and people are not always rational. So can we use mathematics to explain how people behave, how companies behave, how economics behave?”  

Koropenko feels especially inspired to pursue game theory and economics because of her desire to improve her home country, Ukraine. 

Given the economic and political situation in the country, Koropenko believes that her research can be applied to improve everyday life for Ukrainians.  

She also finds that understanding game theory has helped her make decisions in her life, too. Choosing to major in physics might not be the most rational to some, but that’s just a theory – a game theory.