It was the summer of 2020, and my and everyone else’s lives have been dramatically altered. I count myself incredibly lucky for how the COVID pandemic impacted me. I moved back in with my parents, and my college research job could easily switch to being remote for the summer. My future income was secure because I already had committed to graduate school at the University of Colorado Boulder. With a global pandemic and a move to Boulder, was my life becoming Stephen King’s The Stand?
During college, I enjoyed studying as wide a variety of science and math topics as possible. In a single semester, my schedule could see me switching between Quantum Physics, Differential Equations, Sustainable Energy Physics, Orchestra, and even an ancient Asian Philosophy course. I have always been most happy when learning about multiple things at once. Especially exciting was when material from different courses would overlap in unexpected ways. I firmly believe that creativity comes from making connections between separate ideas in novel ways.
The summer of 2020; however, presented a problem. I was starting graduate school in the fall. I knew I wanted to do it; research has always been interesting and all the jobs I was interested in required at least a master’s degree. However, the idea of focusing on one specific research topic was scary. I resisted narrowing my scope so intensely as a Ph.D. thesis…
