Hi, there! I'm Thomas, and I'm a bit of a conundrum. As you can probably tell by the picture beside this bio, I enjoy a lot of outdoorsy things, like hiking and backpacking. Perhaps it would surprise you if I told you I'm actually a physics/astrophysics major with a 3.9 GPA at one of the top universities in the south.

My hobbies are full of contrasts: On the one hand, I like art and music, I play piano and write poetry, but on the other hand I enjoy doing math problems and figuring out how things tick. While these two aspects of my personality lead to many clashes in my interests and the kind of company I keep, I have come to find one major overlap between the two sides: stargazing.

In the picture you see here, I am standing on top of the highest peak in the very exclusive Boy Scout camp, Philmont Scout Ranch. It was during a 12-day backpacking trip through these New Mexico mountains that I saw the most magnificent display of stars I have ever seen. As a certified space nerd, I knew all the constellations I was seeing, what kinds of stars and nebulas could be found in them, where all the planets could be found at that time of year…yet they were as much art as they were science. The multitudes of suns in all their bright hews, the parade of tiny white dots through the pitch-black sky–-it was the perfect combination of poetry and science.

Every night during that trip I would get out from my tent at least once to see the bridge between my interests, and it was then I realized I wanted to study space.

One year later, I'm happily studying astrophysics at UGA; the stars at Philmont will always remain on my mind.