Exploration activity 3: Attend a special event

1. Tell us about your event:

a. For my third exploration activity I went to a meeting with an academic advisor in

the physics department. This meeting took place on Tuesday, November 27th at

3:30 P.M. in the physics building, room 152. I met with Janice Thomaz, the

academic advisor for students who are planning on changing their degree

objective to physics.

2. Describe in your own words the purpose of this event, who was in attendance and why

you chose this event as one of your activities:

a. I organized this one-on-one meeting with Janice Thomaz to create a personalized

schedule for my future semesters as a physics major, determine what non-major

related courses I have yet to take and to make sure that my spring 2019 semester

schedule was adequate for transitioning into the college of science. In short, I wanted

help with creating an organized plan of study for my next three years at Purdue.

b. I also wanted to discuss what potential careers would be available to me post-

graduation as well as how doing a dual major in physics and mathematics would

affect which courses I should take.

3. Name three things you learned during this meeting:

a. The most interesting thing that I learned during this meeting was that people who

have a bachelor's degree in physics generally have no problem finding a job post-

graduation. The problem solving skills gained through a physics education are highly

sought after by employers in a multitude of fields including engineering, finance,

education, medicine, law and even research in closely-related scientific fields. This
 was surprising to me because much of what I've read online has said that most

employers will choose someone with a degree in the same field as they are applying

for over someone with a degree in a differing field.

b. Another thing I learned during this meeting, is that I should begin looking for and

getting involved in research opportunities/internships if I plan on pursuing a graduate

degree in physics. I found this interesting because I figured that I wouldn’t be able to

participate in research until junior or senior year after I've completed some of the

more rigorous physics and math courses.

c. The third thing that learned in this meeting was that a number of the physics courses

that I have to take can be substituted with math courses that are required to get a

degree in mathematics. An example of this would be substituting MA 425 (Complex

analysis) for PHYS 30600 (Mathematical methods of physics).

4. What information did you learn that might be helpful in your major or career decision

making.

a. I found a number of the topics we discussed during this meeting to be helpful to

my major and career decision making. First and foremost, my biggest concern about

majoring in physics was the marketability of a Bachelor's degree in physics. Admittedly,

this is a topic that I’ve done little research on as I’ve always figured that I would end up

with a job in education, industry or academia. However, after realizing the value that a

physics degree holds to employers in a variety of fields, my concern over this issue has

dissipated. While I still want to and plan to do research for a living, it is reassuring to

know that I will have other careers to fall back on if things don’t go the way I plan.
5. After having attended this meeting, I feel more sure of my decision to major in physics

than I ever have. I hesitated to turn in my CODO papers for almost a month after receiving them,

due to lingering doubts about the practicality of a physics degree post-graduation. During this

time I had several long discussions with family members and friends about whether majoring in

physics was a good idea, most of which ended with something along the lines of “It’s your

future”. I found this to be an inadequate response that only served to increase the anxiety I was

having about choosing my major. It wasn’t until I met with Janice Thomaz, however, that I felt

vindicated by my decision to major in physics. Our discussion about my future coursework as

well as potential career opportunities helped ease much of the anxiety I was having and reassured

me that I had chosen the right major.

Near the end of the meeting, Janice warned me that courses would become increasingly

difficult moving forward. She said that future classes will require and understanding of not just

how but also why physics works. This put a smile on my face as I have always had a burning

desire to understand physics and math at a deep theoretical level. My ideation and intellection

strengths as well as the Investigative aspect of my STI theme code will prove to be very useful

during my future advanced physics and math courses.

In conclusion, if it wasn’t for this meeting with Janice Thomaz I think I would still be

having second thoughts about codoing into physics. Janice was very helpful and provided me

with great information regarding the remaining questions I had about majoring in physics. Now I

feel confident and am ready to start my undergraduate degree in physics next semester.