I now have a degree in Astrophysics!

I just finished my last final here at UCSD, and with that, I have completed all of the requirements needed to graduate with a B.S. in Astrophysics! As of right now, I don’t know if I’m happy or sad about it. I’m happy because I’m finally done, but I’m also sad because I am leaving. It’s a weird thing, being in school for so long, working from elementary through high school, and then just being, well, done.

I started this blog about 2 years ago when I first came to UCSD as a transfer student from a local community college. I used it as a way to procrastinate on my studying, but mostly as a way to share topics and stories about space and physics that the people I know in real life didn’t care about. I’m glad that, through Tumblr, I was able to find others who also share these interests and I am overwhelmed by the response I have received over the years.

Having this blog was something that I would have never considered if it hadn’t been for one of my roommates back during my first year here. She had a blog on Tumblr and I thought that was really cool, so I decided to start one! When I first started posting, I didn’t think anybody would care, ever, because in past experiences, no one I knew has ever cared about space and physics, ever. Some people noticed I existed and then one day, about a little over a year later, I posted about the Parker Spiral, and then BOOM, my dash was exploding. Since then, I was apparently popular enough to have a few posts featured in the science tag and I was recognized at my school!

Now that I am done, I have considered the future of this blog. I thought that since it started when I came to UCSD, it should end when I leave UCSD. I’ve also considered continuing it until Tumblr or the internet dies. As of right now, I’m picking the latter. I don’t feel like I can just end the blog (even though this letter would be the perfect goodbye note).

As for my future, hopefully the plan I have set out works in the end. Starting in January, I will be taking a few classes to fulfill requirements for a Certificate in Data Mining, which I will finish around summertime. I have already applied to a couple of jobs, but now that I’m officially done with my B.S., I’ll start applying to more. Unfortunately, there aren’t many research positions available for non-Ph.D. physicists… Then, in Fall of 2013, I will be applying to graduate schools for Astrophysics (or Astronomy or Astroparticle Physics, I haven’t decided yet). From there, I can only hope of achieving my dreams to be an amazing physicist and astronaut, and maybe Nobel Prize winner :)