In our modern world, education is an indispensable part of most success stories told across the globe. There are accounts of students who were born below the poverty line but focused their efforts, studied hard and beat the odds to rise to prominence. It is this very reality that has inspired me, throughout my schooling, to continue to pursue a greater good and reach for a more inspiring legacy. More specifically, I have a keen desire to inspire my fellow colleagues and constituents to continue to further the aspects of their field for the greater good of science, as they have inspired me.

It is this synergy that has been a crucial catalyst for my own experience in academia. To teach, as I have been taught, resonates quite strongly with my core values and I would gladly like to teach a physics or other science course professionally. This comprises one of my long term goals and it is something that I will work hard for. On a different note, research has proven to be quite important to me, as it has taught me not just to turn education into knowledge, but to turn knowledge into wisdom, and this has been vital regarding my studies in physics. I have been doing astronomy research for the past four years and have learned not only the material and procedure of the science, but more importantly I learned how to learn the material and procedure, which is collectively a two-edged sword.

Higher level academia is the perfect arena for swordplay of this sort and can be a push-point for making a difference in the world, one small step after another. Understandably, financial matters also play a role. A catalyst to any career is pay, which empowers a student to strive to become financially independent and set up a game plan for a more lucrative future. Being payed to conduct research as a scientist, which I have done in the Summer Research for Undergraduates program during the summer of 2013, is an exhilarating experience and it is also beneficial to many on the broader purview of the science frontier. Although I was never considered poor, I had humble beginnings and the reality of the American dream took a strong hold on me from an early age, even as I was a candid kindergarten student in Ottawa, Canada. What is quite peculiar is that the fore-mentioned account of the poor rising to prominence in society through hard work and focus is not only a national phenomenon, but it is actually a global phenomenon, one that can be attributed to education and the self-sustaining introspection for the betterment of self. Although an explanation of this concept is quite philosophical, it is safe to say that we are undeniably linked by our humanity and with the right mentors and opportunities, we can rise above the naysayers and solve the problems one at a time, ultimately reaching our goal of a better world.

I believe that graduate school at this university is an outlet for this realization and that receiving a master’s degree in physics from UTRGV will ultimately push us all forward.