Major: Physics - Travel in Europe
Two summers ago, I had the fantastic opportunity to travel to several cities in Europe. Our first destination was Scotland, where my family and I toured grand castles and hiked the Scottish Highlands. We then flew into Paris where we indulged in the usual tourist attractions: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and so forth. The center of our trip, however, was a relatively small city in the Alps region of south-eastern France. My sister was spending the whole summer studying abroad here and acted as a sort of guide for the area. After days of visiting pristine lakes, glaciers, and thick forests, I felt as though I could use a change of pace. I learned that Geneva, Switzerland was only about an hour away from where we were staying.
My parents were somewhat reluctant about this detour, but eventually caved in when I explained to them what one major attraction was here: the Large Hadron Collider. The world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, the LHC is the location of amazing advancements in technology and science. It was here where the famed "God particle" was proved to exist, a monumental discovery which has some of the greatest implications the scientific community has ever seen. The labs surrounding the accelerator also boast a number of significant advancements, including the creation of the first World Wide Web browser. I experienced where this all happened first-hand, and it was this moment which inspired my interest in physics. I realized that it wasn't the grand vistas of the Alps, the historic city of lights, nor any ancient castle which I remember fondest--it was a research laboratory 574 feet underground. Ever since I came home I've thought about going back, but not as a tourist, as a physicist.
