Personal Statement

When I was 14, I watched the movie Interstellar for the first time. I remember walking away from that film with my mind blown. I had a hard time believing the things I saw were theoretically possible. I needed to know how those things worked. My Sophomore year I was assigned a project where we were instructed to research a topic of our choosing and then contact a professional on that subject. Even though my only introduction to Theoretical Physics was through watching Interstellar, I decided to research Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity.
From there, I began my journey into my own personal “rabbit hole.” At first, it seemed like the most challenging subject matter I had ever read. I began to watch documentaries and animations that not

I love delving deeper into topics that my high school courses don’t cover, especially Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. I am also deeply fascinated with Theoretical Physics. No matter how many late nights I spend reading books that cover these topics, I cannot get myself to put them down. The entire world goes away when I am reading these books. Physics is the only subject in school that has truly challenged me, which is another reason why I enjoy it so much. No other subject has really called for so much of my attention that I find myself researching and reading about it after I am done with all my work. I believe that what truly draws me to Physics is the beauty and elegance of some of the theories and the opportunity to solve one's way through any problem that one may encounter. It is not just another course where the subject material is given out and is expected to be memorized and is then useless after a test. Physics is the kind of subject that teaches the skills one can use to approach a problem and then use those skills to solve the problem.
One day, while reading Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn, by Amanda Gefter, I came across a line that resonated with me; “It was one of those perfect gestalt moments when something in the brain clicks and nothing is ever the same.” Since the moment I watched Interstellar and discovered Physics, I have had a deep curiosity about how everything works. I

I took this into consideration when deciding upon my major. While Physics is a dependable and respected major, it is also something I deeply enjoy, as I have previously explained, which I believe is the most important part of choosing a career. Along with majoring in Physics, I am wanting to minor in Computer Science. My reasoning for this decision is due to the fact that I have always enjoyed working with computers and while at Purdue’s Engineering camp this past summer I got first-hand experience programming a robot and an Arduino using C language. Programming was my favorite project at the camp. This minor will teach me how to program in many languages, which will be very helpful once I become a physicist. In today's world, technology is used for everything and physicists have to know how to code. Knowing how to code allows them to run simulations without having to do the same math while solving for different variables. Also while at Purdue, I plan on pursuing all the internships and research opportunities that are presented to me, this way I can get experience in my field of study as well as make connections with possible future employers. One of the reasons I chose Purdue was because of the opportunities and connections the school offers its students and has with outside