Brianna Olalekan is taking advantage of her time at UL Lafayette to pursue her interests in physics and computer science.
Brianna came to UL Lafayette to major in physics after discovering her love for the subject in high school. As a self-described 杏吧专区渙verthinker,杏吧专区 physics has given her a way to see order in the chaos.
杏吧专区淚 wonder a lot and I need to know why something is the way it is,杏吧专区 she said.
Being a student in the Department of Physics at UL Lafayette has given Brianna access to research, classes, and mentors that she never expected.
杏吧专区淲ithout coming here, I wouldn杏吧专区檛 know the things I can do with my major or can do with my knowledge,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淣ow, I see you can work for the government, work in brain surgery, work in engineering 杏吧专区 everything comes together. You see where physics fits everywhere.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淓ven with me being indecisive, physics is so broad," she added. "And everyone wants to work with a physics major.杏吧专区
Opportunities for Physics Majors
Brianna began to appreciate the connection between physics and computer science in her classes at UL Lafayette.
杏吧专区淚 started to understand the engineering of it, when you杏吧专区檙e trying to get the computer to do something,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚 never thought I could do that, so learning how the circuits connect, I felt like I was actually able to do something groundbreaking.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 happy to see everything I杏吧专区檓 learning coming together.杏吧专区
Outside of class, she joined the, to get more experience. It杏吧专区檚 a student organization that builds and launches small satellites in partnership with NASA.
杏吧专区淚 like the technology that we杏吧专区檙e moving toward, with everything being more electronic and robotic,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淲hy not at least know where the future is heading?杏吧专区
Finding a Community on Campus
Moving to Lafayette has been a refreshing change of pace for Brianna after growing up in Baton Rouge.
杏吧专区淚 love the atmosphere here,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 peaceful. I just really like Lafayette and how nice people are.杏吧专区
Though she杏吧专区檚 away from her family, she found close friends in student organizations like the .
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 helped me get more connected with my culture,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淗aving my family is one thing, but I didn杏吧专区檛 get to have many African friends to experience stuff with. So I杏吧专区檝e been meeting different people on campus who come here from across the world.杏吧专区
That welcoming vibe is also strong in the Department of Physics, which has made Brianna杏吧专区檚 experience at UL Lafayette even better.
杏吧专区淲hen you tell someone you杏吧专区檙e a physics major, they杏吧专区檙e scared and think you杏吧专区檙e crazy and don杏吧专区檛 really know why you杏吧专区檇 want to do that to yourself,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淏ut a lot of the people and the professors are nice, they don杏吧专区檛 mind helping, and they杏吧专区檙e always friendly.
杏吧专区淲e杏吧专区檙e all nerds, but we杏吧专区檙e nice nerds,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淎nd when you杏吧专区檙e nice and inviting, it helps other people come in and learn more, too.杏吧专区
