Mikayla Cleaver

I received my BS in Physics and minor in Studio Art from Gettysburg College in 2019. At Gettysburg, I was the president of my SPS chapter, served on the executive board for STEMinists to promote women in STEM fields, and was inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma in Fall 2018. In my undergraduate career, I did research focused in astrophysics where I studied the kinematics and dynamics of galaxy clusters and stars around black holes. 

I realized after two summers of research that it didn't excite me in the way I had hoped for a potential career, so I looked for internships in science communication and outreach knowing that I enjoyed being a TA for labs and classes as well as mentoring young girls through our LEGO Robotics after school program. In 2018, I was an SPS summer intern working with the Society of Rheology and the Center for the History of Physics at AIP. This helped solidify the idea that I wanted to work in a non-research field and helped me build connections that would help me later on in my career search!