Mini-Experience
For our mini-experience, my partner Stephanie Kong and I were assigned the topic of Creative Endeavors. After talking with one another, we discovered that we both share passions of studio art, mental health awareness and outreach, and the wonders of astronomy. It was easy for us to construct a project that could combine all of these shared interests seamlessly. We definitely wanted to do a public chalk mural somewhere on campus, because neither of us had ever done one before and we figured it would be a great opportunity to try something new. Stephanie showed me an amazing article by Jack Becker about public art, and it really inspired me to send a message to the UC community through our mural. In the article, Becker describes that a key component of public art is intentionality, because the context of the piece can add a lot of depth to its impact (Becker 5). With this goal in mind, we also wanted to explore some methods for addressing mental health since it can sometimes be a difficult topic. We referenced a TED Talk article called “How We Should Talk About Mental Health” in which Thu-Huong Ha describes that ending the stigma around mental health begins with saying and doing something about it. After learning a little more about our ideas and developing them, Stephanie and I were ready to begin our experience.
Stephanie is a DAAP student, so she utilized resources to create a design for the mural. We wanted to make it space themed and also send out a positive image about self-care and mental health. The design captured all of the themes perfectly. We planned on drawing the earth, a few planets, and some stars with the phrase “Take Care Out There” across the middle. I think this design is great because it’s eye-catching, beautiful, the phrase rhymes and makes sense with the space theme, and also send an encouraging message, which students especially need now as we approach finals week. During such an incredibly stressful time, it’s so easy to let self-care slip down to the bottom of the to do list. Everyone is always on the go with an agenda on their mind, and students often forget that they deserve some time and relaxation, too. The simple message to “take care” could be exactly the little push that someone needs to remind them to take a moment for themselves to unwind and refocus their mind. While this message is important for students, it also applies to all people from every walk of life, because everyone is worthy of love and care. No matter what a person’s life may be like, anyone can benefit from some mental health care. The outer space background of the mural captures the universality of the benefits of self-care.
Another learning outcome we wanted our experience to have is to explore the cathartic release that making art can provide. I have definitely benefited from this in my own life through my experiences with art. Throughout my entire life, I have often felt as if I feel too much, meaning that I experience emotions too deeply for my own good. While this sentiment can be a beautiful and unique trait, at times it was just too heavy to bear and carry around inside my head. Desperate for some form of release, I turned to mixed media studio art, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I was mesmerized by the power I had when creating a piece, and I felt truly free and I poured out my every thought onto the canvas. It was such a relief to see my nebulous emotions materialize into a real piece of artwork. It was also a huge source of hope, as I often watched pieces I initially hated turn into some of my favorite masterpieces over time. Stephanie and I both have been experiencing the aforementioned academic stress, so we were excited to get some art therapy.
Next, all that was left to do was choosing the location for the mural. We needed somewhere that would be reasonably protected from weather, visible to a lot of students, and also somewhere meaningful that could serve a specific purpose. All of these criteria were met at a location on the wall of the geology-physics building, visible from the stairs that connect to the Quadrangle. Nearly all of the physics student have a keen interest in astronomy, so the location couldn’t be more appropriate. The mural can also be seen from a heavily populated area and path on campus. I had so much fun creating the mural. I haven’t had time to do art in such a long time, so it felt great to finally get back at it. It was a wonderful stress relief to practice one of my passions again.
Global Citizen Scholar Plan
In my perspective, being a global citizen scholar means accepting the responsibilities I have as a member of human society to work towards the progression and development of the world at large. I define this progress by the expansion of knowledge and information to which we have access. A global citizen scholar is someone who possess an awareness of self within the context of a diverse world and strives to learn more about gaining a deeper level of consciousness. One of the world’s problems that I devote a majority of my thoughts to is the complexity of unsolved questions of the universe: Why do we experience time linearly? Why is gravity so much weaker than other forces? What is causing the accelerating rate of expansion of the universe? What is dark matter, and why does it oppose regular matter? What is the makeup of the foundational particles of supersymmetry? These are the questions that drive me to wake up each morning and that keep me up at night. I have a burning desire to work towards unlocking the keys to these mysteries, and I plan to do so in my studies of theoretical particle physics.
Over the course of this past spring semester, I have developed a more profound understanding of myself any the strengths I possess. Prior to analyzing my own personal traits and characteristics through reflection in Gateway to Honors, I viewed a lot of these traits as negative or overall weaknesses. One of the activities I found most helpful in this pursuit was the Strengths Finder survey. My top five strengths were revealed to be intellection, input, learner, futuristic thinking, and empathy. The one I found most accurate was the intellectual description, because I definitely have a constant buzz of thoughts running through my stream of consciousness. The analyses were very helpful in figuring out how to shift my perspective from my weaknesses to these strengths. In the past, I have had a difficult time accepting these strengths as actual strengths. I have often felt that my extremely empathetic and sensitive nature was more of a strength than a weakness. This made me realize that rather than being weak and unstable, my sense of empathy gives me an acute awareness of my surroundings and circumstances. I am excited to explore this newfound perspective that I have power over my mind and can learn to use my hyperactive senses to my advantage.
Moving forward in my academic career, I want to learn how to apply these strengths to my studies and future research. I think that creativity and artistic thinking can play huge roles in the success of a physicist. The ability to discern between good and bad ideas comes easily to a skilled artist, and this is necessary in the field of theory as well, because ideas worthy of devoting a lifetime to must be complex enough that it has not yet been solved, but have enough potential and excitement that the time to solve it has come. I have hope that my creative mind will allow me to approach such ideas from a different perspective than other physicists, and that I may be able to see solutions from a new angle that has not yet been proposed. My next step will be to investigate specific opportunities which will enable me to explore my passions, utilize my strengths, and concentrate my academic path towards a specific area of focus. I learned this year that the field of theoretical physics contains dozens of different directions, such as high energy particle physics, theoretical astrophysics, cosmology, and nuclear physics. At the University of Cincinnati, we have professors working on all areas of the field, including research on string theory, dark matter, and cosmic microwave background radiation. I plan on reaching out to these professors to see what kinds of opportunities might be available. I am most interested in working on the theory of supersymmetry, dealing with the Higgs Boson particle.
As I take these next steps in my career as a budding physicist, I want to be intentional in continuing to develop my strengths. In order to refine my intellection and unceasingly learn new knowledge, I will be taking historically difficult classes which will push me mentally and academically. As I take these challenging courses, I will have the chance to develop better study skills. When I take notes during a lecture, I am going to start adding my own input in the margins to develop my thoughts on the topic and have a better understanding of how to apply the information I learn. Looking towards the future, I am elated about every step of the way that is to come. Each day I accept my role as a global citizen scholar, and I will work tirelessly on the pursuit of deeper and deeper insight on the secrets of the universe.
The Standard Model of particle physics with the proposed model of supersymmetry
Source: Athene's Theory of Everything