Intellectual Curiosity by Cassidy

Intellectual Curiosity by Cassidy - February 2025 Scholarship Essay

Throughout the years, I have found a passion for learning in the physics department because it is intriguing how our everyday actions are related to the laws of physics. We rarely stop to think about the physics principles that keep our cars on the road as we make turns on wet pavement or keep our airplanes in the air when we travel. The complex fundamentals of physics that control each aspect of everyday life are interesting not only on their own but also when they are applied in other contexts to solve more complicated and less familiar problems.

Although researching electric charges in materials is beneficial in the production of electronics, it also can help make discoveries in other fields. For example, research in condensed matter physics helps to discover transition-metal oxides and silicates to build devices with higher processing capabilities and improved optics. Beyond known tangible benefits, this research has also been used to find new states of matter and a deeper understanding of chemical reactions. The physics field is fascinating to me because it is something that goes unnoticed in everyday life but can also be used to make important discoveries, such as the discovery of plasma, that at one time revolutionized the way televisions produced light.

I want to study physics in my future endeavors in order to learn more about the scale of our universe while sharing experiences with other like-minded students and faculty who notice and appreciate the way everything in our daily lives follows the unbreakable laws of nature.