Graduated

I have now officially graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. degree in Physics and a minor in English. The stage has been walked, the President's hand shaken, and the guttural screams of joy and elation from my aunts, uncles, parents and everyone still echo in my ears, which is disturbing now that a month has gone by. While nursing my damaged eardrums back to health I've been furiously engaged in the "Post Graduate Job Search," more on this very very soon.

First I would like to quickly recap this past year. I've spent most of it studying for frightening exams, but in my free time I've hosted what I hoped was a mind-bending brain-blowing radio show entitled "Superconductors, Super Computers, and Super Mario" wherein I expounded on the most intriguing subject in the universe. Physics. I also dotted it with discussions about astronomy and technology, but everything ends up being physics anyways.

It was also my privilege to conduct research with Dr. Kurt Hoffman of Whitman College in his area of expertise, spectroscopy of doped aerogels. Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Despite my recently attained familiarity with spectroscopy, I still have an immense difficulty pronouncing that word with it's elusive c's and o's. Aerogels are artificially made solids that are incredibly good at scattering light, hence why we used them. Below is a picture of one.

Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech - NASA Stardust Website

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In particular we examined spectroscopy readings of Erbium doped sol-gels shined with infrared light. Ultimately, the project was an excellent opportunity to use some pretty advanced equipment and be taught how to do so by an incredibly knowledgeable professor. My sincere thanks to Dr. Hoffman.

That sums it up on the scientific front. I've been steadily increasing my stack of resumes to particular companies. My focus is on achieving a science writing position, though I've also explored solar energy since I find this the most natural extension of the research I've been apart of as well as being a field that is incredibly fascinating. If you are still reading and your wondering what you'll read after this, I'll take the liberty of suggesting to you a couple subjects from my radio show.
Check out:
Quantum Dots and Solar Energy
Whatever SpaceX is doing today
Sean Carroll's book The Particle at the End of the Universe