When I first discovered astrophysics and what goes down in the field I realized that it is something that I am strongly interested in learning. Although I feel like there is many self setbacks that would make pursuing it would be very difficult for myself.
For context about how I am academically, i definitely have my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to subjects when I was in school. My interest for astronomy started when I was in second grade, but later one my love for it grew more especially when I was in the fifth grade. Science was the subject in school that I understood the most and would forward to it, I would even help my older sibling with their astronomy homework. Up until I was a junior in high school, I got put into physics class to which I ultimately fell in love with and as per usual would look forward for class everyday.
Other than science class, English was not at all my strongest subject. What I mean was the I did not have a good teacher since the one that I had wasn’t the nicest and would not be afraid to call you out if you didn’t understand the topic. I came to the realization when I had a different teacher on my last year of high school since the one I had was much more encouraging and was happy to help anyone at any time. I do believe since I started to understand the subject on my last year of high school, I feel like I didn’t learn enough.
Math on the other hand was a hit or miss for me, once again it depended more on which teacher I had. Like I said about my English teachers, with the ones who were encouraging my grades were good, to which the ones who were not afraid to call you out my grades were not the best. How I processed math I always figured it out within the second to third try of any equation that was thrown to me. Sometimes I flat out don’t understand until way later on. The thing is that I keep trying and sometimes takes me a while to understand/ figure out what I’m working with.
Other than how I was with these subjects, i’ve been told by people that i should put my interest and love for astronomy into something I can pursue, and even my teachers who helped me while I was in school that I can do more with the potential that I have
Another thing about myself is that I didn’t really enjoy school, sometimes i would give up and not turn in anything for periods of times, I would usually struggle to focus. Especially when I would work with computers (I know it is more than a big part of the field). When I graduated I told myself that I wouldn’t go to college and didn’t plan anything for myself. As if right now I’m working part time and will be going to school at an institute, I plan on getting a certification of sterile process since I don’t enjoy customer service. My spark of astronomy lit up when I talk to a collage student who is majoring in space engineering who is encouraging me to pursue astrophysics. They gave me amazing advice by telling me things that they regret and wished they done.
What I am hoping to get out from this post is advice on what I should do, anyone who had the same experience that I shared and joined the field and if they ended up loving it or recommend anything else. I do not know what I want for myself in the future. I know what path to take if I do end up choosing this field but I don’t know if it should be sometimes I should move forward to.
I also want to mention that I do want to work for my certification of sterile process and it’s a job I definitely want to try.