What first fascinated me, and later inspired me to apply for Physics, was a university lecture I watched by MIT’s Professor Walter Lewin. In the lecture, he used his own body weight to show that the period of a pendulum was independent of its mass, explaining a counterintuitive concept with ease and enthusiasm. It made me want to understand nature to the same extent that he had. I took this desire and used it to broaden my understanding of the subject in my own time.

Soon after, I discovered the University of Nottingham’s online Physics series ‘sixty symbols’, which I have watched ever since, as well as Leonard Susskind’s lectures at Stanford on subjects ranging from Quantum Mechanics to Relativity. I was particularly interested in a talk about the effects that the Photon Sphere would have on an observer falling into a black hole - due to the distortion of light, they would be able to see the back of their.

After watching them, I decided to use one as the groundwork for a group project I worked on this year. The project used Newton’s equations to prove that if a man were to fall from the top of the Empire State building, he would reach his terminal velocity before reaching the ground. Doing so showed me how closely linked Mathematics and Physics were, especially when representing the man’s speed as a function of time, introducing me to differential equations and to the implications of air friction on a falling object.

During the summer holidays, I took part in an Oxford course introducing me to University level Physics material. I especially enjoyed the lecture on Quantum Computing explaining how a superposition state of many qubits could be used to perform multiple tasks all at once. The idea of applying Quantum Mechanics to make a better type of computer demonstrated the reach and importance of Physics. As part of this course, I gave a presentation on the physical implications of taking various fictional characters literally, using them as a starting point to discuss topics such as heat dissipation through air friction and the sound barrier. My work won me an award for both Maths and Physics.

I was rewarded with the book “A Very Short Introduction to Particle Physics” by Frank Close. The book showed me that the length scales that can be probed are always limited by the energy that accelerators can provide in a deBroglie relation. I now better understand the need to build accelerators of ever increasing energy. I developed my interest further by reading “QED” by Richard Feynman and am currently reading “The Theoretical Minimum” by Leonard Susskind, which I am enjoying for its more detailed explanations, and use of Mathematics, when compared to other popular science books.

Outside of school, I spent several months working as a programmer in an IT company called Mak-System, which develops medical software. This enabled me to learn how to code in Java and Sql. Part of my work was debugging programs to ensure they functioned correctly, and when they were not, I was in charge of fixing them. This taught me focus and perseverance. I have also programmed in my own time, creating an encrypting machine which can encrypt and decrypt a certain message using different patterns.

In my spare time, I have helped friends who struggle in Physics by organising study groups in which I went over topics they didn’t understand. For example, we studied Relativity, discussing velocity addition as well as the train and twin paradoxes. My part time job as a lifeguard has also helped me develop my self-discipline and concentration, as I have to remain focused for long periods of time.

I have very much enjoyed learning about physics both through my school education and my own personal study and look forward to the further challenges that await me at university.