Welcome! 

Thank you for visiting my ePortfolio! Here you will find a display of the hard work that I have done towards achieving my dreams, including various examples of my work in school and out of school, a list of my personal goals, my resume, and more.  I hope this portfolio serves as a means of expressing my journey and life experiences, as well as an adequate representation of where I've come from, where I am, and where I'm going.


  

About Me

 My name is Danielle, though I prefer to go by Dani.  I love storytelling in all forms, including movies, literature, and comics; more than that though, I like to create my own adventures.  I am a geek at heart - I love zombies, super heroes, space epics, and solving the Rubik's Cube.  I also enjoy skiing, hiking, writing fiction, Japanese culture and language, space-related discoveries, traveling to unfamiliar places, and learning new things about the world and the variety within it.

I am currently a student enrolled at Salt Lake Community College finishing my Associates of Science degree.  I intend on acquiring an Associates Degree in Physics from SLCC, before transferring to a four-year university where I can earn a Bachelor's Degree in either Astronomy or Astrophysics.  My ultimate goal is to acquire a Ph.D. in one of these two fields.

  

 Striving for Eudaimonia: Choosing a Major

eudaimonia n. / a fully realized existence; happiness

Choosing a major has been a long journey.  Originally, I considered the arts: film making, animation, writing.  However, as I have progressed in my college education, these area's haven't reeled me in as I had anticipated.  As time has gone by, my interests have evolved into something I never would have expected.  Every class has shaped my interests, helped define the things that matter most, and served as a stepping stone in the realization of my passion: space, the unknown, the Final Frontier.

In the Spring Semester of 2012, I enrolled in Astronomy.  Every class session lead to mind-blowing realizations about the universe that I had never even considered.  My interest in space stemmed here, but ultimately, it was World Religions that transformed this interest into a passion.  The more I learned about various belief systems and the different explanations of the afterlife, I realized just how much I love the unknown—and space is full of the unknown.

I toyed with the idea of becoming an astronomer, but shied away from it.  It was a big, big dream, one of which I felt was bigger than me.

Then I took Philosophy.

I remember the exact moment when the word 'eudaimonia' came up during a discussion in class.  As soon as I heard the definition, it finally became real to me that if I want to study space, then I will study space because this is where I would find eudaimonia.  There was no more room for excuses or fears or any other trivial things whose only purpose was to impede my growth as a student and as a person.

As of now, I have narrowed it down to two fields and I am so excited for the paths laid out in front of me.  These fields are astrophysics and astronomy.

A degree in either of these fields requires determination, a positive mind, various skill sets, a lot of time, and a lot of hard work.  It will be a long, hard road, but I am positive that I can achieve my dreams, be the best that I can be, and have some fun along the way.


Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

                                  -Robert Frost

 

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