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Blakely42
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I am an undergraduate physics student. Currently taking 300-level Mechanics and Electromagnetism. I am a non-traditional student in my late 20s who returned to college and chose a physics degree specifically to challenge myself in an area I've never excelled in. As a result, I struggle quite a lot to understand physics and math, but I've worked extra hard and gone to office hours often.
As someone who never dreamed of being a competent mathematician, I am exploring every possible facet of physics research I can. Last year I got into an undergraduate teaching assistant program for physics 1, so I've got some experience in physics education. I've done astronomy research that I'll be presenting on at the American Astronomical Society in 2020, and I'm now in a geophysics research program that will be taking me to study volcanoes in Costa Rica next summer.
Physics is the most difficult thing I've ever done, and I often am frustrated and exhausted by it. There is certainly a bell curve of when too much effort is being put into not enough understanding for it to be rewarding. Some of my greatest struggles are being patient with myself, accepting that I just don't understand things, and recognizing that some people are either more experienced, better educated, and/or more natural learners than I am. I've cursed Rogowski, Taylor, and Griffiths' names more times than I can count. I have caused many math and physics professor a lot of headaches, and I am certainly grateful for their patience.
As someone who never dreamed of being a competent mathematician, I am exploring every possible facet of physics research I can. Last year I got into an undergraduate teaching assistant program for physics 1, so I've got some experience in physics education. I've done astronomy research that I'll be presenting on at the American Astronomical Society in 2020, and I'm now in a geophysics research program that will be taking me to study volcanoes in Costa Rica next summer.
Physics is the most difficult thing I've ever done, and I often am frustrated and exhausted by it. There is certainly a bell curve of when too much effort is being put into not enough understanding for it to be rewarding. Some of my greatest struggles are being patient with myself, accepting that I just don't understand things, and recognizing that some people are either more experienced, better educated, and/or more natural learners than I am. I've cursed Rogowski, Taylor, and Griffiths' names more times than I can count. I have caused many math and physics professor a lot of headaches, and I am certainly grateful for their patience.