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Sydney Andrews

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Bio

Hey! I just recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in applied physics with minors in math, astronomy, and computer science. I am currently pursuing a masters degree in engineering physics with hopes of one day getting a PhD in astrophysics.

Education

Appalachian State University

Master's degree program
2024 - 2026
  • Majors:
    • Engineering, Other

Appalachian State University

Bachelor's degree program
2020 - 2024
  • Majors:
    • Physics and Astronomy
  • Minors:
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics
    • Computer Science
    • Mathematics

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

    • Physics
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Research

    • Dream career goals:

      Professor

    • Tutor

      Appalachian State University
      2022 – 2022
    • Intern

      REU
      2023 – 2023
    • Sales Associate

      Dollar General
      2021 – Present3 years
    • TA

      Appalachian State University
      2021 – Present3 years

    Sports

    Archery

    Club
    2017 – 2017

    Research

    • Astronomy and Astrophysics

      Appalachian State University — Student Research Assistant
      2023 – Present
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics

      REU
      2023 – 2023

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      App State STEAM Expo — Demo helper
      2024 – 2024

    Future Interests

    Volunteering

    Learner Math Lover Scholarship
    No school subject is quite like math. People either love it or hate it. Math is not subjective, there is a right answer, but there can be many ways to get to that answer. My junior year of college I took a Classical Mechanics class that taught me a lot about problem-solving with math. I would work out problems on a whiteboard in the library for hours and wonder what I was doing wrong. Working on a problem for hours could be exhausting, but the joy when I finally figured out the problem was worth all of the effort. When I felt stuck, I needed to find a new approach or if an answer didn’t make sense, I would have to scrap some of my previous work and start over, helping me figure out how to come at a problem from different angles to see which approach a problem needed. I fell in love with working through the long problems. Although hard, math makes sense. When listening to someone describe a concept I get lost very fast, however when looking at math written down, whether it be on the library’s whiteboard or in my textbooks, I can take time and go through it step by step. Unlike concepts I can break the math down into small steps that make sense in my head. While I struggle to learn the concepts of physics, learning the math behind them makes it easier, causing me to love the subject even more. I love math because it makes me want to learn more about the subject I love, even when stuck on a problem and struggling. Math makes hard things make sense.