Scioly.org

lumosityfan wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 2:34 pm

Fyren wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 8:05 am

Nydauron wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 12:04 am It'll be really ambitious for me to ask, but if you have your heart set on it already, what major do you want to pursue?

Physics, possibly Geology.

Awesome! Physics is a great subject and I'm glad that you're interested in pursuing it further. (Also not to toot my own horn or anything but if you're interested in such things, you should consider going to Columbia. I know it's awhile in the future and you said you would be interested in potentially going to other colleges outside of UIUC, but Columbia has the Lamont Earth Observatory in the Palisades that does geology research and the Earth Center on 114th and Broadway that does such things as well. Also, their Physics department is quite top-notch and has lots of opportunities for research and learning. Just a consideration )

I find it amazing that you know what you want to do for college so early on or at least am planning for it; I wasn't thinking hard about such things until junior year of college (and even then it was your normal preparing for SAT/ACT and checking out local colleges). I agree with people in keeping your options open and staying aware of what's out there. I came into high school not really knowing what I wanted to do exactly but I had a feeling of maybe history-related things and maybe some science, but going through high school (especially competing in Science Olympiad) made me want to go into science in college. This is especially when it came to Astronomy; competing in Astronomy really honed wanting to pursue that field in college (and I'm very thankful I did) So don't sweat not knowing exactly what you need to do right away; it's great that you're thinking about such things so early though, and I encourage you to continue looking further into such possibilities.

EwwPhysics wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 3:10 pm I think it's a good idea to have a goal but not stay to fixed on doing any particular thing. Until around half a year ago I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life - I really wanted to be a schoolteacher, mathematician, lawyer, some-type-of-research-scientist, etc all equally. Now I'm leaning towards some-type-of-biology but really it could be virology, genetics, etc etc anything. I think it just shows that you can change a lot in very little time, so it probably wouldn't be the best idea to get too set on anything too early.

sneepity wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 8:10 pm

EwwPhysics wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 3:10 pm I think it's a good idea to have a goal but not stay to fixed on doing any particular thing. Until around half a year ago I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life - I really wanted to be a schoolteacher, mathematician, lawyer, some-type-of-research-scientist, etc all equally. Now I'm leaning towards some-type-of-biology but really it could be virology, genetics, etc etc anything. I think it just shows that you can change a lot in very little time, so it probably wouldn't be the best idea to get too set on anything too early.

Yeah, later on you could like something more but then remember, "oh, I wanted to be this, right?" and maybe stress yourself by thinking you aren't good at accomplishing your goals. It's very likely that people will change their minds in HS.

sneepity wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 3:08 pm Honestly I don't know what classes I'll take in hs, but I know that they'll be based off of bio and human anatomy. Idk what uni i'll probably go, because I haven't figured out "how good" I am at education. I'm trying out several things on the side tho.

BennyTheJett wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 2:40 pm

lumosityfan wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 2:34 pm

Fyren wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 8:05 am
Physics, possibly Geology.

Awesome! Physics is a great subject and I'm glad that you're interested in pursuing it further. (Also not to toot my own horn or anything but if you're interested in such things, you should consider going to Columbia. I know it's awhile in the future and you said you would be interested in potentially going to other colleges outside of UIUC, but Columbia has the Lamont Earth Observatory in the Palisades that does geology research and the Earth Center on 114th and Broadway that does such things as well. Also, their Physics department is quite top-notch and has lots of opportunities for research and learning. Just a consideration )

I find it amazing that you know what you want to do for college so early on or at least am planning for it; I wasn't thinking hard about such things until junior year of college (and even then it was your normal preparing for SAT/ACT and checking out local colleges). I agree with people in keeping your options open and staying aware of what's out there. I came into high school not really knowing what I wanted to do exactly but I had a feeling of maybe history-related things and maybe some science, but going through high school (especially competing in Science Olympiad) made me want to go into science in college. This is especially when it came to Astronomy; competing in Astronomy really honed wanting to pursue that field in college (and I'm very thankful I did) So don't sweat not knowing exactly what you need to do right away; it's great that you're thinking about such things so early though, and I encourage you to continue looking further into such possibilities.

Physics is ok, but Geology is better. *DISCLAIMER*: Benny is extremely biased in his opinion, as he plans on being a geology major.

pepperonipi wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 9:11 pm Yea, like people have said, high school is all about figuring yourself out.

There's a pretty good chance you'll look back on where you are now when graduating high school or college and chuckle. But, that's all part of the game. You're likely to going to have so many experiences in hs/college it will be crazy - things that you won't even think that will happen will happen. You will be crazy happy sometimes, and super stressed others. You will meet plenty of new people, who often like or act similar to you! You will join clubs and programs that you love dearly or hate with a passion. And then, all of these experiences will grow you.

For me, in 9th grade, I had only a few friends, participated in basically no extracirriculars, and just kind of watched YouTube all day. Now, in 11th grade, I've made many more friends, with plenty of different backgrounds and stories to share, joined extracirriculars that I now pour my heart into (hello Science Olympiad/Scioly.org!), and have gone through loads of experiences, which have all shaped me, whether it be presenting my nearly 5,000 word AP Research essay or grinding Detector at 4AM in a little green Cornell dorm lounge the night before 2019 Nationals. Not all of the experiences were super grand and pleasant, but imo, they were all worth it and have shaped me greatly.

sneepity wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 8:10 pm

EwwPhysics wrote: ↑June 9th, 2020, 3:10 pm I think it's a good idea to have a goal but not stay to fixed on doing any particular thing. Until around half a year ago I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life - I really wanted to be a schoolteacher, mathematician, lawyer, some-type-of-research-scientist, etc all equally. Now I'm leaning towards some-type-of-biology but really it could be virology, genetics, etc etc anything. I think it just shows that you can change a lot in very little time, so it probably wouldn't be the best idea to get too set on anything too early.

Yeah, later on you could like something more but then remember, "oh, I wanted to be this, right?" and maybe stress yourself by thinking you aren't good at accomplishing your goals. It's very likely that people will change their minds in HS.

And yea, I think having goals is good going into high school. Things like "I want to make friends" or "I want to get A's". But there are so many goals I have now that I could have never made then! Then, I never expected one of my goals would be to finish organizing the 3rd Scioly.org WikiProject or making a robot find the shape of a vision target in robotics. That doesn't make my original goals any less worthy! I just now have some more goals. But I never really went "oh in 9th grade, I just wanted to have friends and get good grades, right?" -- nah, because that doesn't make sense now! You will probably think along the same lines

tl;dr You can't make too many goals for some high school/college experiences you haven't gone through yet. Make goals, but realize those goals are likely to change. And embrace the change! It hopefully won't stress you out too much

Just my two cents. Go do what makes you happy