Descartes said that the pineal gland ``is the principal seat of the soul, and the place in which all our thoughts are formed''. Even though there is little of the soul in a place that regulates our sleep patterns, he thought he had the answer for what is a deep problem. These kinds of questions, about reality and our place in it, have always been with me, and made me interested in Physics from very early on, as a way of producing meaningful answers. Because of this, I have always strived to learn as much I could, to be the best I can academically, and to involve myself in research, so I too can contribute to this dialogue. The reason I quoted Descartes is that wondering about the brain actually led me to pursue medicine when I was starting university. During these three years, I worked on some neuroscience projects, like studying how the birth of new neurons in rats is affected when taking different antipsychotics, and even went to Greece, where I learned about how to read electrical brain activity to understand memory paths. However, as I was studying about vertebr\ae\ and antibiotic classes, I progressively found that my curiosity had been much more satisfied when I was learning Physics for fun and studying for the International Physics Olympiads, where I even got a bronze medal. …show more content…
It was not an easy decision -- in Portugal, this implies starting undergraduate studies all over again -- but I am happy I made it. I finished the three-year B.Sc.\ degree as first of my class, and I am now on my first year of a Master's program. I chose the Nuclear and Particle Physics curriculum, so this year I am taking courses like Quantum Field Theory, General Relativity and Nuclear and Hadronic Models, to learn about the fundamental physical theories. My goal is not only to learn the theories, but also to be able to understand how these models intersect and where they become