Prize Recipient

Manuel Reyes

Background:

I was born in San Jose, California, and I lived there for seventeen years. Two years ago, my family moved to Ontario, California where we have lived since then. I have just completed my first year at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, and I am currently taking summer school courses.

I first became interested in physics in high school through casual science reading. I found the ideas of modern physics to be fascinating, both the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. Through my studies of physics during my senior year of high school and my first year of college, I have also gained a great appreciation for the classical ideas of physics. This past school year I completed General Physics I & II, my first college physics courses. This coming fall semester I will be taking Modern Physics, an experience I am looking forward to very much since this was my first area of interest in physics.

I hope to become involved in research internships over the next few summers. Such an experience will expose me to a portion of the many divisions of physics and help me find what studies of physics appeal to me the most.