Friday, June 22, 2018
By:
Imagine: a crowded dance floor, flashing lights, neon glow sticks, fancy clothes, party hats, gourmet desserts, over 25 SPS employees, interns, and executives getting down to V.I.C.'s Wobble, wading down the Potomac on a dinner cruise.
That's how I spent my 21st birthday on Thursday.
Life's kind of crazy like that---you're born (a tiny, drooling glob of human with wide eyes and a mushy head), spend the first 10 years of your life abosorbing information (learning to eat, walk, talk, get dressed, use a toilet, and write), and spend the next six years questioning everything (Who am I? Why am I? What's the point? Where am I going?). But then something interesting happens...Vague existential questions become less daunting and more investigative (Who do I want to be? What kind of job do I want?). And as time goes on, answers start to form! Each passing year I found myself analyzing my life (16yo: My name is Michael. I was born and live in Toledo, Ohio. My favorite holiday is Halloween. I enjoy drawing and playing the flute and I want to go to college to get a degree in French)...(17yo: I am Michael. I live in Toledo, Ohio. My favorite show is How It's Made on the Discovery Channel. I enjoy drawing portraits, painting, playing the piano, and I want to travel the world for a living)...(18yo: I am Michael Welter. I am from Toledo, Ohio. I prefer wearing dress clothes and I hate talking on the phone. I enjoy theatre, sculpting, math, korean food and I want to go to college to be a physics teacher)...(19yo: I am Michael Welter. I lived in Toledo, Ohio. I love physics and I go to High Point University in North Carolina. I spend most of my time studying, tutoring and listening to Coldplay).
In a matter of a few years my entire career path took a 180! I don't think I ever really believed I'd be 21 years old---it's always seemed like a distant future. But here we are, and here I am:
21yo: I'm Michael Welter. I am the president of High Point University's extremely active SPS chapter and the president of a campus organization I've named HPUminds which consists of 20 physics and computer science majors working under the advisement of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to build and program a self-driving golf cart. I've been a physics tutor for five semesters, and am on track to earn a bachelor's degree in physics with a minor in math and graphic design. I am an experienced graphic designer, and by the conclusion of my internship at the American Institute of Physics in Washington, D.C, I will have assisted in the editing, composition and publishing of two science magazines and a scientific journal. I plan to pursue a career in science communication, using my physics background and my visual production experience to help expand and educate the minds of millions of people.
I never plan to have all of the answers, but that won't keep me from asking questions.
Michael Welter