Prize Recipient

Tonia Venters

Background:

My name is Tonia Venters and I am originally from Houston, Texas, but I now live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with my family. I attend Rice University in Houston, and in the fall of 2002, I will be a junior. My major is astrophysics, with a possible double major in mathematics.

I have loved astronomy and the space program since I was in the third grade, and I believe that studying astrophysics will help me to fulfill my dreams of research in physics and becoming an astronaut for the United States. I am interested in studying physics because form the smallest constituents of matter to the greatest of astronomical phenomena, physics attempts to explain who or what we are and why we are here. Through the study of physics, the human race can find a new path to self-discovery and understanding. There is so much to learn and so many different leads to follow that I find that it is an exciting time in which to live and an exciting field to study.