About me

Physics

Before deciding on studying physics I was originally planning on studying mechanical engineering. After doing less than a semester of engineering classes I decided it just wasn't for me, and met with an academic advisor in the physics department. I also experimented with civil engineering, nuclear engineering, math, and astronomy. I eventually decided to be a physics major, and I am so glad I did. I have met some of the greatest friends of my life in the UMD physics department. Since then I have gotten very involved in both research and outreach, and my goal is to pursue a Phd after I graduate.

Hiking

One of my favorite things is hiking! I love being outside. One of my favorite places to hike in Maryland is Patapsco Valley State Park, which has tons of very nice trails, waterfalls, and places to see the river! I also love Great Falls and the C&O Canal which also has some phenomenal trails to hike. I grew up in Utah, and while there my dad took me to so many beautiful national parks. This past May I took a trip to Utah, Colorado, and Arizona and got to go hiking in lots of those same places which was truly phenomenal. Some of my favorites are Arches National Park, Mesa Verde, and Bryce Canyon (though the list could go on and on). Check out my photography page to see some pics!

Fun Facts

• I cannot stick out my tongue or raise my right pinky finger.
• I share a birthday with Thomas Edison
• I was an internet meme back in the day. As a kid my grandpa took this picture:
  
  Which was subsequently turned into a variety of internet memes. Like this one. No, my head was not really in the camel's mouth, it was just a funny perspective thing. The camel was trying to grab something out of my hood, and ended up scratching the back of my neck a little bit though (I was okay but the camel did get in trouble)! The incident happened at Wishing Star Farm in Ellicott, CO. I recently reached out to them and found that the camel in question was named Boo, and his donkey friend was cracker. Unfortunately they have both passed on in the time since this incident occured.
• I collect antique, rare, and unusual science books. Some of my favorites to look for are physics, botany, and medical texts from the 1700s to the early 1900s.

Buddhism

During my sophomore year of college I started getting interested in Buddhist philosophy, and decided I was interested in doing some sort of class or study abroad experience related to that. I ended up finding out about Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI), the Kathmandu University Center for Buddhist Studies. RYI offers bachelors, masters, and Phd programs in Buddhist studies, and also hosts a lot of international students at a variety of different programs. RYI is also a major hub for translation and textual studies, and offers classes on Classical Tibetan, Colloquial Tibetan, and Sanskrit. They are also very closely affiliated with Ka Nying Shedrub Ling monastery (KNSL). In fact all in person RYI classes are held at KNSL one floor above one of the monastery's shrine rooms, and many teachers at RYI are monks at KNSL. KNSL is one of the largest monasteries in Kathmandu, and has over seven hundred monks and nuns. The monastery was founded and built by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and is currently led by his son, the revered teacher Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche (a recent article about Buddhism in Nepal described Rinpoche as "Yoda like" which I thought was quite funny). I was fortunate enough to meet him a couple of times during my program at RYI.

I ended up participating in the Buddhist studies summer intensive program, and taking Buddhist Studies I. The class was divided into three parts: meditation, philosophy, and history. The meditation class was taught by a Lopon (senior monk) from KNSL, and consisted of a mixture of guided meditation as well as discussion of some technique and theory, using a short textbook written by another teacher at the monastery. The class focused mostly on Samatha meditation, which means "calm abiding". The practice focuses on calming the mind, as opposed to other more complicated practices called Vipassana. The philosophy portion of the class was taught by another Lopon from KNSL, and focused on the text The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva by Gyalse Tokme, with commentary by Chokyi Drakpa. The text is often one of the first that is taught to new students of Tibetan Buddhism, and breaks down fundamental philosophy into a list of thirty-seven essential practices. Both of these two classes were taught in a traditional Tibetan monastic style format, consisting mostly of lectures in Tibetan translated by our wonderful translator (though many of my teachers did speak enough English that we had many discussions in English as well). The third part of the course was a general overview of Buddhist history and culture taught by a western academic who is currently at RYI. This portion of the class was also wonderful, and talked a little bit about Buddhism all over the world. We started by discussing pre-Buddhist India and the Buddha's life before moving on to the spread of Buddhism to rest of Asia.

I am so glad that I decided to go to Nepal; it was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned so much, experienced so many new things, and met so many great people. I hope that one day I can go back.

Lots of people ask me what draws me to Buddhism, and I never have a very satisfying answer. The truth is that it's a lot of things. The emphasis on impernanence and interdependence has always fascinated me. I have also always loved idea of mindfulness, something that has helped me even before I was ever interested in Buddhism. I also find the classical Indian Buddhist schools of philosophy to be extremely interesting, since they seem to think about the mind and reality in a different way than many European thinkers. If anyone reading this is interested in learning more about Buddhism, I always recommend that people start with The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh.