After Guilford
“Our professors made {physics} perpetually exciting and fun, while simultaneously adhering to a level of educational quality and integrity that was hard to match. Our classes were small, and we learned from each other as much as from our professors. We were all very aware that the kind of learning we were doing was rare.”
- Renee Haran ’03
William Hahn ’08
Ph.D., Neuroscience
“It is hard for me to express how much the Guilford Physics department changed my life. The people and the ideas that I met there have shaped every aspect of who I am. I would not be where I am today without them. The skills I acquired in the Guilford Physics department I use on a daily basis. From technical and numerical thinking to basic communication the Guilford Physics department gave me a solid understanding of the universe and our place in it.
I am a Ph.D. student studying neuroscience. The Guilford Physics department taught me a lot of things but I think the most important would have to be speaking in public. Weekly seminars, presentations, and problems at the chalkboard made speaking and expressing ideas second nature. The most unique aspect of the Guilford Physics department is the continued involvement with alumni. The physics reunions were an incredible experience as a student and are even more rewarding as an alum.”
Vladimir Sudilovsky
Ph.D. student at the Max Planck Institute in Garching, Germany
“Obviously, my background in physics from Guilford helps me on a day to day basis. However, and likely more importantly, the philosophy of learning that the Guilford physics department emphasizes is very important. During my days (and nights) at the physics department, I internalized the thought-critical style of my professors: Did I really understand how to solve this problem? What if some conditions were slightly changed? Could I explain it in an honest and transparent way to my non-technically inclined peers? The capability of rigorous self-reflection is crucial, and I appreciate that the Guilford physics department teaches physics in this manner.
Finally, I think the physics department is special in how they approach the program as a whole. Besides the standard topics that are fundamental to any physics program, the department encourages student creativity. In my experimental physics course, I eventually designed my own experiment to empirically determine the relationship between how hot something is and the light it emits as a result thereof. There was no manual or set of instructions given (other than a deadline). Instead of feeling lost, I felt encouraged that I could use my own creativity to test the physics I had been studying. The senior thesis project is a broader example of this — designing, implementing, and then writing up the results to an investigation of a completely original topic on my own schedule was an extremely satisfying (and difficult!) project.”
David Jackman ’09
“After graduation, I wanted to pursue a unique path for myself that was rooted in academic work. Guilford’s Physics department shifted the focus of my life towards my education and the education of others, and it has remained that way since.
By the time I graduated, I was (and still am) confident I could (and can) achieve anything. Here has been my happily volatile career path: 1. High school physics teacher 2. High Explosive/Detonation Physics researcher for the Department of Defense (DoD) 3. United States Senate DoD legislative appropriations bills analysis for Senator Claire McCaskill 4. Law School to study Constitutional Law/Patent Law /Antitrust Law (I’m working towards this now!) Who knows if I’ll ever settle on one career. As long as whatever I’m doing consists of learning and understanding how the world around me works, I’ll consider myself as having successfully pursued happiness.”
