Astronomy Personal Statement

When I was young, my father would often take me outside on cool, dark nights with a telescope twice my height and point out various stars and nebulae. I was enthralled with what I saw, but as my father’s interest dimmed and these nights grew infrequent, I began to forget about the awe space had once inspired. As I grew older, I began to foster an interest in the sciences, specifically physics and chemistry. While my decision varied from veterinarian to author and everything in between from elementary school to my freshman year of high school, I remembered the passion those nights with my father had sparked so long ago, and my major seemed clear: astronomy, or as I later realized, astrophysics. Astronomy is a field of science that studies space, and astrophysics is a branch that focuses on the physical and chemical aspects. Since I had always loved chemistry, physics, and space, the field seemed perfect, but when I delved deeper into the subject through research and interviews, some issues appeared.
Methods
I decided to first find my interviewees, as this …show more content…
Dr. Smith began as a veterinarian, but she soon realized that her passion lied elsewhere. While she started late, she was lucky enough to be “at the right place and right time” to receive a job at Caltech and claims that as long as you have passion, it’s never too late to begin. “All careers have challenges,” she explained, “it’s just about choosing the one where your passions outweigh them.” All of the astronomers I interviewed possessed a passion for their field. Dr. Christensen described the job as “just fantastic” and “pure serendipity” despite the difficulties the field posed; insisting the field needed more interested astronomers, he warned me never to lose my passion, “a rare gift.” Dr. Treuthardt shared similar sentiments and expressed his love of __ in astronomy, described by him as