I could have easily chosen art, French, or history, but I wanted to go to school for something that was hard, that I would need the most help learning, that made my brain hurt to understand the universe.
The other thing I became obsessed with when I was 18 years old was Antarctica. I thought I knew everything about the world. But then my grandma took me to the Antarctic Centre and I realized there was a whole continent I knew NOTHING about. The seed was planted. It grew from the Antarctica 101 paper to the Post Graduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies. So in less than 5 years of not knowing about this white icy continent, I was doing research at Scott Base and camping on Windless Bite in a Scott polar tent, collecting data for a variety of research projects. The degree culminated in a personalized research project. This is where I first worked for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. I had known about IceCube for years and felt like the whole telescope, conceptualized before I was even born, was made just for me. Physics, astronomy, Antarctica—the trifecta! I was so excited to be able to contribute to its progress. That carried on into my masters where I compared flasher data models. When I was done studying, I applied for some jobs to work in Antarctica, but they only left me with multiple rejection letters. It did not seem like I would get back to Antarctica.
My next adventure took me to the classroom, where I worked with some amazing students. I learned to love them so much, I affectionately called them all “my kids.” I still miss them every day and keep in touch with a few. I became that enthusiastic physics teacher who had inspired me, and I got to inspire teenagers to also learn that physics is Phun!
