Discover Magazine asked readers who their heroes of Science were. I replied with this: As a kid, I had always wanted to be an astronomer. I had struggled with math since one rather unpleasant teacher told me that you cant do math. My dreams of astronomy were crushed after that. Until recently I believed her, as if my doing math was somehow against the laws of nature. Often, when expressing interest in scientific careers, my parents would shake their heads and click their tongues: Lots of math in that. I suppose you could say I had a rebirth after a futile attempt to limp my way through a major I had no true interest in. I was scientifically illiterate for most of my rather short time on this planet and if it werent for Dr. Carl Sagan and thereby Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, I still would be. Sagans philosophy cleared the haze of ignorance that small town religious values had left me in. As a bullied kid, I felt so small and insignificant. Sagan helped me realize that every life form- in a cosmic sense, being both rare and amazing- stems from colossal events unimaginable to the human mind. You and I are star stuff and that blows me away every time I think of it. Understanding the importance of math in science propelled me to challenge myself and to defy that one teacher. Dr. Sagan gave me an appreciation for our planet and the life we share it with. Dr. Tyson told me to keep looking up. I owe so much to them. They proved to me that even at 21 scientific literacy was obtainable and that a foot in wonder and a foot in skepticism makes the world such a great place. Im currently enrolled at Portland State University for Organismal Biology and a minor in Space and Planetary Science. I hope to get my Ph.D in Astrobiology (if I can find a program for that,) studying the little extremophiles that could survive the conditions of Mars and beyond. Or perhaps scouring the universe for other examples of self realized star stuff. That being said, Jean-Luc Picard and Lt. Reg Barclay from Star Trek are good runners up for me in the hero category. Im with your kids on Bill Nye, his push for science in rural places resembling my hometown of Oxford, NC inspires me to do the same. Thank you for reading, please live long and prosper... And as Tyson concludes with every Startalk podcast, remember to always be looking up. Yours truly, Kimberly Hayes
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 03:57:14 +0000
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