When I was in eighth grade in Virginia, Dr. Paul Guèye, who is currently my adviser at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, came and talked about a two-week summer program called PING, or Physicists Inspiring the Next Generation. What caught my attention was that we could learn about astronomy — which has been an interest of mine since first grade — and that it was free. I did not think much of it days afterward, but I turned in the application anyway, which was past the deadline. I forgot about it until I got an email back saying I had been accepted. I participated in the program and did cool things like soldering, star observation, experiments and physics.
At the time, with my parents’ support, I had planned on becoming a medical doctor. I avoided physics like the plague throughout high school and planned to do so in college. I went to college with the set goal of going to medical school. However, as time went on, the momentum stopped. I realized that I didn’t want to become a doctor. I remembered how I felt during the PING program and wanted to pursue a career in astronomy. I did not know what to do or where to go. During that dilemma, I thought of Dr. Guèye. I contacted him and, after many conversations with him and with my parents, I packed my bags and headed to MSU. I knew that this meant that I had to be far away from family and be on my own in a new environment, basically restarting my college years. I was overwhelmed and questioned myself a lot.