Studying Physics

Whenever I tell someone for the first time that I'm studying physics I receive one of several reactions. Some people are impressed, some people don't seem impressed at all, and others think I'm wasting my time altogether. Sometimes people look at me like I'm from Kepler-186f (a distant planet that could possibly support life!). Other people give me their sympathy, and others still say something to show that they know "stuff about physics too". It's a strange experience, getting such a spectrum of reactions.

So I decided to write this blog to talk about what it's like to study physics.

Overall, studying physics is pretty challenging. Each year is exponentially more difficult than the last. I have learned that I'm not very strong mathematically. In fact, one of my favorite things to say is "The more physics I do, the dumber I feel."

According to goodreads.com Albert Einstein said "The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know." Now, that was Einstein! This is true for me tenfold.

I will get more into that feeling in a later post about upper-year undergraduate physics.

I want to emphasize one thing: I do not consider myself to be smarter than the average bear. I do not want to write this post to show people how "smart I am". I believe that most people could study physics if they worked hard enough (and it does not come easily to me). I am strongly convinced that what appear to be our "strengths" are really just manifestations of our interests. The purpose of this post is to give people a small window into what studying physics is like, since it seems so foreign to many people. I should say, however, that I will probably make some snide remarks about Liberal Art students since every time my classmates and I are studying, we hear Liberal Art Majors at the next table laughing or playing league of legends.

I'll talk about the physics program experience chronologically--starting with my first-year in the English program and why I switched.