[MUSIC PLAYING]
EDWARD VAN KEUREN: Hi,
my name Ed Van Keuren.
I'm an Associate Professor of
Physics at Georgetown University
and I'm the Director of
Undergraduate Studies here, as well.
I'm teaching the Introductory
Electricity and Magnetism
course for our freshman physics majors.
And recently I had a chance to
ask them about what motivated
them to become a physics major.
OK, so Lindsey, what motivated
you to major in physics?
LINDSEY: So physics actually
was the most challenging course
I ever took in high school.
And by most challenging I mean
hardest by far intellectually,
time consuming, but
also the most rewarding.
I enjoyed getting to learn physics.
I enjoyed being stumped by a problem
and finally getting to figure it out.
So that's why I decided
to major in physics.
That feeling that at the end of the day
when you finally figure something out,
it's worth it.
More worth it than any other
subject I've ever studied.
SUBJECT 1: I liked
physics in high school
and it just seemed like
it was very applicable
and I just like to
understand how things happen.
SUBJECT 2: My grandfather had
majored in physics at TCU and MIT.
He went to both.
And so he was a strong influence.
I mean, he used to talk at
breakfast about different stuff
and used to talk about like making
a magnet and stuff like that.
And so I finally decided
to give it a shot.
And so far it's been
really, really interesting.
SUBJECT 3: So I took AP
physics in high school.
And I knew I wanted to do
some type of science major.
That was the one that kind
of appealed to me the most.
When I came to Georgetown,
I remember very specifically
there was a lecture where
we talked about EM waves,
and that was the first time that I kind
saw this elegance in natural order.
And from then on if I had any doubts
at that point, I definitely was like,
I'll stick with it, see what happens.
And then first semester
sophomore year I took 153,
and that's when I really
knew I was hooked.
SUBJECT 2: I was on a campout in the
summer before I came to Georgetown.
And I was sitting out under the stars.
It was about three
o'clock in the morning.
I had woken up because I
had to go to the bathroom.
And I was just sitting there
and it was a clear sky.
And there were just all these
stars because it was out
in Texas so you don't have
much light pollution out there.
And there were just millions of stars.
And I was just wondering how
could you make stars in your job?
And physics is the way to go.
And I just thought it was so cool.
LINDSEY: Well, I was one of those
kids who grew up with a Hubble poster
on her wall.
Kind of nerdy, I know.
But my dad was always
really in to science.
And he was a big fan of
just kind of public TV.
And in my town there was this
one complete science channel.
I absolutely loved it.
It was way over my head.
But I remember one night my dad was
like, Lindsey, let's watch this.
It was about string theory.
I was a seventh grader.
I had no idea what that meant.
But my dad is like, you can understand
this someday if you study physics.
So that's what got me interested
in physics in high school.
And then after that, I
decided to major in it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
