I was first introduced to Fermat's Last Theorem by a high school Physics teacher in Brazil when I was 14. It read: It is impossible to separate any power higher than the second into two like powers. For the next forty-five minutes I tried endlessly to separate a power higher than the second into two like powers without success. I asked my teacher why and he told me to read Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh, which I bought for US$10 and read it all in a single sitting. In 1992, after seven years of work, British mathematician Andrew Wiles gave a lecture the world would never forget: the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Later that year, mathematicians found a flaw in his proof, but Wiles persevered. One and a half year later, in September 1993, just after he said he was ready to give up, Wiles finally solved what had been the greatest unsolved theorem in the history of mathematics - Fermat's Last Theorem. And he solved it tremendously: using what he had learned in his doctorate program at the University of Cambridge, the Iwasawa theory. Fermat's Enigma is the kind of book that, if one is interested, one will read it all in one day - and I was one of these interested ones. The book has helped to shape me, especially while solving mathematics problems. I used to try the hardest mathematics problems as I was always interested in them, but after not a very long time I would give up and ask how it was done, just like I did to my teacher about Fermat's Last Theorem. I am glad he did not just tell me the answer, instead he recommended a book so that I could figure it out on my own. Since then, I try to spend more time on the hardest problems, knowing that the difficulty of the problem is in direct proportion to the time and dedication needed. This quality of mine is epitomized in the old Brazilian saying that goes "Always fight, win if possible, and never give up."