Physics is entirely driven by the curiosity of people who do it because they love it. It’s an incredible way of exploring and thinking about the universe. Math and physics come together in satisfying ways. I like to open my textbooks, sit there, read them for hours, and do the math in a textbook to see if I can get it right. It’s a very gratifying process.
Physics has a reputation of being for smart people. High school students need to know that when you get to college, that doesn’t matter. Students there don’t judge you that way. Physics and math aren’t inaccessible, but they can feel like that. Our culture encourages young people to give up if they don’t understand something right away. But if you give physics patience, it’s not inaccessible. Take the time to sit down and work with it. It will open up to you. Once you get past all your anxiety, you can explore something that’s amazing.
My heroes are Albert Einstein and the physicists Niels Bohr and Richard Feynman. There’s a notion that advances in physics are propagated by specific great people who individually do great things. But there is an Isaac Newton quote, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” The truth is that physics is a communal process that happens on a wide scale. Advances are made slowly until great physicists come along. Their discoveries are made possible because of the contributions of so many other people.
I would like to teach. I already enjoy communicating about physics and explaining concepts to people. That’s always been an interest of mine. I’m on track to study quantum physics, and I’m interested in quantum computing. It’s an exciting new field. Part of what you learn in physics is that most of the basics have been discovered and thoroughly studied. But we’re in the middle of the lifespan of quantum physics. Things are starting to ramp up. New discoveries are starting to accelerate.
I also like to make things with my hands and to make things out of wood and metal. I work at the makerspace at my college, where students come in with projects. I know how to work in a woodshop and put things together, so I can help them through the process, teaching them how to use the tools and how to solve problems.
My father is Rosebud Sioux. My parents split up when I was eight, and my formative years were around my dad in Rapid City, S.D., where he is a tribal consultant. My mom tells me I’m a lot like him. I’ve always been more grounded than other people. Thanks to my heritage, I feel I’m part of a bigger culture, something that is older.
I also come from a family of artists. My mother is an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents emigrated from Russia. They ended up on Cape Cod and became part of the arts community in Provincetown. Last summer I apprenticed to a sculptor and made a bronze sculpture that was exhibited in a show. I’m also teaching myself music theory. I have a piano and want to learn to play Ukrainian folk music and klezmer music on the accordion. I want to be able to dive into things and learn as much as I can.
