Well this is exciting!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog.

This blog has been set up in part because I am now officially a 'Blogden' blogger for The Ogden Trust, an organisation that seeks to encourage Physics education. I first came to know the Ogden Trust through a teaching internship I did during June-July 2013, which was a fantastic experience. I got hands on experience of being a 'real' teacher, with real responsibilities and real classes to teach!

And now I am one of this years bloggers. This blog will be a place where I share the thoughts of a female Physics undergraduate. I know before I went to university I was terrified about the prospect of studying Physics at university as I just didn't know what to expect. Maybe I'll help someone feel a bit better about going off to university to follow their own interest (hopefully Physics because it's so much cooler than other subjects. Yeah. So there.). Or even better I might inspire someone to pursue Physics! On that note I will also post about some of the really cool things Physics has to offer - in terms of some of the awesome things you get to learn about and the amazing places Physics can take you.

First a little about me. I am a second year Physics student (well sort of - unfortunately I'm on a year out of studying as I was ill over the exam period last year so I'm basically just waiting until I can sit the exams!). I grew up in Hertfordshire and loved every subject I studied at school (yes, I was that weird kid!). I'm not even joking - originally I thought I was going to do either an English Literature or Music degree! In the end though I ended picking Physics as it is awesome, and very employable! I study at Durham university, which is brilliant. I love the course, I love the place and I love the people. More on that later! Outside of Physics I have a wide variety of interests, ranging from art, music, literature to travel, sports (well some of them!) and volunteering. I am also a qualified St John Ambulance First Aider which is very exciting (and really useful!). Hopefully I'll be posting a bit about my life outside of Physics (well, someone might find it interesting...) as well as my experiences as a physics student and just as a student in general. I'm also going to be delving into the wonderful world of Twitter (which could be interesting as I have no idea at the moment!) so if you feel like following me have a search for @ThatPhysicsGirl and you should find me!

I also thought I should give a little explanation as to the title of my blog. I had no idea what to call my blog, so spent a while having a look on the internet for any Physics quotes I liked. There were many, some very humorous, many too rude, but I finally came across this quote "Atoms with consciousness, Matter with curiosity" from a poem by the great Physicist himself, Richard Feynman.

It's a beautiful poem, which I think sums up some of my fascination with science. The final lines,

"I, a universe of atoms
An atom in the universe"

I  think are just beautiful. I am so in awe of the size of the universe and I just think it is wonderful how I am such "a tiny, insignificant, ignorant bit of carbon. I have one life, and it is short and unimportant"(quote from the wonderful Tim Minchin) but I can live my life trying to learn about the most incredible things, and go and see the most wonderful sights and have huge thoughts. Isn't that wonderful? And science helps us make sense of this wonder, but does not ever remove your sense of awe. From the hugest galaxies to the tiniest fundamental particles Physics is increasing our understanding, and as far as we know, the science we have at the moment works! And yes, it may change as new evidence is discovered but that's the beauty of science. The discovery, the desire to find something new and the reality that you have to be so open minded to believe some of the stuff you'll be taught. Physics is challenging, not only in terms of the maths or anything like that, but also that it will test how you think about the world. I love it!

Later today (hopefully) I'll post up my winning blog entry for you all to read. Get excited!
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