[questionnaire] (Ex-)Physics student(s) needed!

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I have to interview someone who is studying or has studied physics, and since finding someone to interview IRL has proved problematic, I figured just putting a questionnaire here would be the next best thing. If you've finished or are working on a (preferably university-level) physics course, I'd really really appreciate it if you could answer these few questions. Pretty-please with sugar on top?

1. Where did you study/are you studying?
2. Are you specialised/planning to specialise in anything? If so, what?
3. When did you decide you wanted to study physics?
4. Why did you decide you wanted to study physics?
5. Have you completed or are you working on any other major courses? If so, (a) what, and (b) how and when did you decide to pursue multiple major lines of education?
6. Were you offered any jobs during your time as a physics student? If so, did you take any of those offers?
7. What would you say was the most difficult part of the course?
8. Did everything live up to your expectations?
9. Is there anything you're particularly proud of? If so, what?
10. What advice would you give to someone who wants to study physics?

Thanks in advance!

[Sourire]

I could use karmic brownie points considering I just implored the maths board for help. I'm just about to wrap up my bachelor's in physics. I'd like to know what you'll be using this for, but I don't think there's a situation to which I'd object, so I'll fill it out anyway.

I have to interview someone who is studying or has studied physics, and since finding someone to interview IRL has proved problematic, I figured just putting a questionnaire here would be the next best thing. If you've finished or are working on a (preferably university-level) physics course, I'd really really appreciate it if you could answer these few questions. Pretty-please with sugar on top?

1. Where did you study/are you studying? Prefer not to answer on a public board, reply here then PM me if this is really important
2. Are you specialised/planning to specialise in anything? If so, what? My undergrad in physics has been general. I've focused more on the atomic/chemical side of things, but not much, in the scope of things. I intend to properly specialize in chemical catalysis at the graduate level.
3. When did you decide you wanted to study physics? After reading a chapter on quantum physics in high school (from the course text) I was pretty well-sold. I declared the major in the first semester of my sophomore year, after taking an exploratory course (I first declared a major in engineering).
4. Why did you decide you wanted to study physics? Honestly? Because I felt like the careers available in engineering weren't what I hoped they'd be, and I felt like having two specialties might help me find satisfaction down the road. Looking back, I feel like I was unfair in assessing engineering, but this undoubtedly helped me get where I wanted to go.
5. Have you completed or are you working on any other major courses? If so, (a) what, and (b) how and when did you decide to pursue multiple major lines of education? I've completed a majority of the courses required for a bachelor's in chemical engineering. I declared my initial studies in chemical engineering, honestly, because some website told me it's what I should do if I liked chemistry and physics, and wanted a job later.
6. Were you offered any jobs during your time as a physics student? If so, did you take any of those offers? I did a summer research experience at an Ivy League university. It was awesome. Now I'm headed to grad school at an institution with a similar reputation/budget. While I did both of these with the double-major background, I feel safe in saying the physics side was more impressive to my reviewers.
7. What would you say was the most difficult part of the course? I'll interpret "course" as "line of coursework required for a BS." And honestly, I feel like it was learning how to start. Compared to high school (and often, to engineering), physics has high expectations for your intuition. Problems were structured less in a way to hold your hand, and more in a way to watch you fly. As an example, a physics class might say "Does anything interesting happen when I poke it?". An engineering course would say "Assume I don't poke it."
8. Did everything live up to your expectations? Absolutely not. But in a good way. I went into physics thinking it was a sort of indulgence that wouldn't help me find a career. It ended up being an amazing growing experience that really prepared me for the next level, and others recognized that.
9. Is there anything you're particularly proud of? If so, what? There's really a lengthy list here. But in the interest of brevity, I'm probably most proud that it's really helped me teach others. Physics makes the world make sense, meanwhile engineering seems mostly focused on making the world work. The distinction is amazing to me, and I'm really glad that I've had the opportunity to help share my perspective with the engineering undergrads I've worked with.
10. What advice would you give to someone who wants to study physics? There are a LOT of resources out there to help you as you get started. I'm not saying things like MIT's opencourseware are a substitute for a proper classroom, but they're certainly good for keeping your interest high and your skills sharp while you wait.

Thanks in advance!

[soggybomb]

1. Where did you study/are you studying?
2. Are you specialised/planning to specialise in anything? If so, what?
3. When did you decide you wanted to study physics?
4. Why did you decide you wanted to study physics?
5. Have you completed or are you working on any other major courses? If so, (a) what, and (b) how and when did you decide to pursue multiple major lines of education?
6. Were you offered any jobs during your time as a physics student? If so, did you take any of those offers?
7. What would you say was the most difficult part of the course?
8. Did everything live up to your expectations?
9. Is there anything you're particularly proud of? If so, what?
10. What advice would you give to someone who wants to study physics?

1. University of Florida
2. I haven't specialized in terms of classes I have taken, though I work in a condensed matter physics laboratory.
3. I decided I wanted to study physics shortly before coming to University
4. I wanted to study physics because I became enamored with the concepts of quantum mechanics during high school, in a descriptive and not rigorously mathematical way. I started reading Feynman and just tried to learn as much as I could. Moreover, I ultimately wanted to do something somewhat related to renewable energy, so physics made a lot of sense.
5. I am minoring in Electrical Engineering because the department has some useful classes on semiconductors, photonics, and nanoscience.
6. I was offered a job as a research assistant, which I accepted and work part time during the semester and full time during the summer.
7. I find thermal physics and statistical mechanics to be the hardest subject conceptually.
8. More or less, my expectations have been met, but I have realized both how much I have learned so far, but also how much there is yet to be learned.
9. I am really proud of my research above all else. I work with carbon nanotubes, and everything that our lab works on I find very interesting.
10. My advice would be to not be intimidated by the rigor of the classes, but to just focus in and practice the problems, and then slowly things will begin to come more easily.

[starslayer]

1. Same deal as Sourire.

2. I'm currently going for a Ph.D. in astronomy; my main interests lie in planets and instrumentation, though my current research isn't anywhere close to those.

3. The idea to study physics/astronomy in particular came to me in high school, but it was an evolving process. I knew from an early age that I would go into a technical field of some kind; initially I thought I'd follow my parents footsteps and become a programmer of some kind.

4. Because it was interesting, cool, and I had/have an aptitude for it.

5. Nope. I decided early on that I wasn't going to take on that kind of workload, since it didn't really fit in with my goals anyway.

6. No, unfortunately. However, I did get to do research, but I had to go looking/asking for the opportunity, and I never did get paid very much. Now, being a grad student, I get paid for it, of course.

7. The most difficult part of physics? For me, I never did get most of my second quarter QM (I think my good understanding stopped after perturbation theory and some basic radiation stuff). Stat mech sucked big time, too. In general, though, it was mostly the problem of how to get from A to B using the information given - the goals were always clear, and even what I had to do was usually clear, but actually doing it, and understanding what you were doing, could get pretty difficult. For instance, I never did get very good at setting up those geometric integrals in EM.

8. Yeah, I'd say so. I knew going in it would be hard, some subjects would be harder than others, all that. Despite all the work, it was a fun ride, and I made some great friends along the way, professors and fellow students alike. Research was/is a blast.

9. I'll almost certainly be a published author in a few months. That'll be something to be proud of. For my undergrad career, probably knowing I helped put together a working astronomical instrument prototype (well, before we rediscovered the aluminization chamber...), and pulling a couple of people through the program who might otherwise not have made it.

10. Recognize that it will be hard. Sometimes almost soul-crushingly hard. Don't give up. If you're struggling or stuck, ask for help, and do it early. Get to know your fellow students, and do the homeworks together with them. Go to your professor's office hours, and come prepared with questions so you can use the time wisely. You'll probably pull through and even get a better grade than you were expecting.

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Sorry for the late reply; I've been incredibly busy! I'm taking the Dutch state exams soon, and one of the requirements is interviewing one or more students of the subject you want to study yourself. In my case, that's physics (my mind is pretty much made up by this point ).

Thanks for all the replies, people! I really appreciate it. I've received some more responses by PM, so this should be more than enough to meet the requirement.