Q: What are your physics/science interests?

I’m interested in nuclear and particle physics, although I haven’t had a specific class on either of the subjects. My university doesn’t have any research or classes in particle physics, so I’ve been doing volunteer research in quantum optics and condensed matter physics which are also interesting but not my favorite areas.

Q: What are your other interests?

I love reading books (my favorite being The Song of Achilles) and I do really like Greek Mythology (not surprising given my what my favorite book is). I also love playing video games like Destiny 2 and Dragon Age when I have free time.

Q: What would you like to do after college?

I want to go to graduate school in particle physics and eventually become a professor so I can teach physics, do my own research, and hopefully travel a lot.

Q: Tell us one strange but interesting fact about yourself?

In high school when I started getting interested in astronomy, I wrote a little research paper where I taught myself all these different things about astronomy and about planets, stars, black holes etc. and eventually it had 50 pages. I stayed after school for an hour each day and I spent that time writing it and it took a whole semester.

Q: What first sparked your interest in Physics?

I’ve liked math since middle school and once I took high school physics, I found it interesting to see all the different equations and how they describe something from the world. I originally wanted to become an Astrophysicist but after taking AP physics I wanted to do something outside of Astronomy but still in physics. It wasn’t until my 2nd year of college after I took Introduction to Modern Physics that I realized I wanted to do particle physics.

Q: If you could have any pet, what would it be?

A Cane toad. I love frogs (especially toads) and I actually had a juvenile Cane toad before but it passed away due to illness after having it for only 6 months.

Q: If you had a free month and unlimited funds, how would you spend your time?

I would take my family with me on a trip to different places around the world like Greece. I would love to go to CERN and many different national laboratories as well. And of course, I would use my unlimited funds to pay off my college debt.

Q: If you could get a grant to study anything, what would it be?

Particle physics though I’m not sure exactly what I would want to study in it. I don’t think I need to know a specific research area in particle physics for grad school at the moment, but I would love to learn more about the interactions of elementary particles. I know I’m okay with both experimental and theoretical.