Hi all,

Last year one of the REU students sent around an introduction so
I thought it might be a good idea to start one this year.

Let me start my saying I'm very, very excited to meet you all and
spend the summer in Bozeman.  Last year I did this REU, along with
Antonia and it was a great time.  Bozeman is a really beautiful
area and a splendid place to spend the summer.  Hopefully we can
also get out to the National Parks around Montana and Wyoming to
do some camping and hiking.

Well I guess about me: I'm a third year physics major with an
astrophysics concentration at a pretty small liberal arts school
in Ohio called Oberlin.  I'm originally from Massachusetts.  I love
hiking, running, camping and most things outdoors.  I like physics
of course.  I've really started to like solar physics over the
past year.

You guys are definitely in for a good summer of physics and fun,
the program is really amazing.  I can't wait to meet you all!
If you have any questions about the REU program or Montana related
I can try to help and I'm sure Antonia could too.

Happy first day of spring!
Kerry  

========================================

Hey hey,

Alright, I'll bite.  Well I'm from Portland, Oregon and I used to go
to Willamette University but now I got to the Unversity of St. Andrews
(that's in Scotland which is slightly further from home than
Willamette was).  I do Math (or "maths" as these strange brits call
it), though I often wish I did neuroscience instead.  Ah well, that's
for grad school I guess (or maybe not?  Who knows - I'm supposed to
decide by next fall when I apply to schools and I still have no idea
what to do).

Umm, let's see, introduction things - I'm interested in philosophy,
music, books, movies, and economics/politics.  I lived (almost) my
entire life in Portland.  I want to go to graduate school after I
graduate, though I might take a year off first (who knows?  Certainly
not I.)

Maybe I should've waited for other people to send one to get more
ideas on what to say.  Ah well.  Feel free to facebook me - let's all
be honest with ourselves, the thing is like crack and we're going to
add each other this summer.  Or not, doesn't bother me.  Hope to hear
from you guys.

                           -- Adam

========================================

Hello all,

I am in my third year at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, 
Washington.  Evergreen is a non-traditional liberal arts and sciences 
school - we have interdisciplinary programs rather than courses and we 
have written evaluations rather than grades.  And we don't really have 
"majors," instead we have a focus, mine being physics.  It is certainly 
a place where you get out what you put in and where we are encouraged 
to, in large part, direct our own curriculum.  I'm looking forward to 
learning how studying physics in this sort of environment compares to 
the experience of those of you at traditional schools.  To give you an 
idea, during our fall quarter I took a program called "Order & Chaos."  
It was taught by two professors - a mathematics prof and a theatre 
prof.  Basically, we studied the history of science side-by-side with 
the history of theatre and we discovered the worldviews held by the 
ancient Greeks and the Elizabethans through these two disciplines.  Let 
me say though, that this was a departure from my normally rigorous 
physics programs.

I was drawn to solar physics through exposure during a program I took 
last year called "Energy Systems" and through a research project I've 
been working on for the past year and a half on magnetic and acoustic 
waves in aurorae.

Like Kerry, I am from Massachusetts (Kingston, and as a matter of fact I 
am in Plymouth as I write this - where are you from, Kerry?).  I've also 
lived in southern California and Austin, Texas.  I've been in Washington 
state for 6 years.  It's taken me a while to remember the things that I 
like to do outside of school - it's been so long since I've had the 
chance to do them.  A short list:  I like to knit and make...things - 
crafts, I guess one might say, but that is such a loaded word I usually 
try to steer away from it.  Anyway, I also like movies, music and books, 
of course; road trips; bees and beekeeping, which I look forward to 
doing again as soon as I have a place to put some hives.  I'm actually 
enjoying what I used to consider torture: a couple of months ago I 
started running.  I'm determined to learn how to play music soon and 
maybe this summer I will have some extra time to teach myself - anybody 
play anything?  And...I love learning, about nearly anything. 

I spent some time a few years ago at Yellowstone and hiking in Glacier 
National Park.  I love the area and I'm excited to be spending more time 
there.  I'm looking forward to the program and to meeting you all. 

Cheers!
Jada

========================================

Hi everyone,

I'm a solar physics 'graduate student' here at st andrews uni in
the UK.  (As Adam already pointed out, us crazy brits have a few
different words for things, and no matter how much I say it, graduate
student still sounds really odd - we call them 'postgrads'.) As
Kerry already said, I was on the REU program last year and it's great
to get the chance to come back. The st andrews group is a bit more
oriented toward the maths (oh bother, math) side of things than at
MSU and so it makes a good change to work with the profs in Bozeman.

So, what else? I'm from London, but since living in Scotland have
got a little into 'hiking' (which we call walking, but apparently
to you that only conveys a stroll in the park). Actually right now
I'm sunburnt and attracting strange looks after spending a bit too
long hiking waist deep in snow. I'm also hoping for lots of great
walks around Bozeman and in the national parks.

Also, Jada, I play some music, in particular cello, piano and
recorder (insert laughter here at this last one, but it's progressed
a little since the primary school stage...), so I'd be happy to
teach you a bit of any or all of these, or just reading music if
you don't know that already. I remember Kerry plays the flute,
and they have a few pianos around campus.

I guess that's about it. Look forward to meeting you all,
Antonia

PS. Adam and Alex, you should come and drop by my office sometime
(its two doors down from the main entrance to maths) and we can
meet up. Alex, if you need a visa I can help you out with reams of
paperwork and let you know what to expect in the interviews.

========================================

Hello everyone,

  My name is Andy and I am a sophomore at West Virginia University (yes,
west virginia is a state).  I was born in Seattle, WA and moved to WV
when I was five because of my father and his position as a professor.  I
have three older brothers and one of them is my twin.  The other two are
finishing up graduate school and getting into graduate school.  The
oldest is in political science while the three youngest are in physics
(following my fathers footsteps i guess you could say).  For my free
time, I enjoy many sports.  I played lacrosse for WVU my freshman year
and am considering to go back if I can find free time.  I also play
tennis, ping-pong, basketball, flag football, ultimate frisbee,
wakeboard (i live on a lake), skateboard, and baseball.  Other than
sports, I like to hike, relax, play scrabble, look at stars, hang out
with friends, movies, converse, debate, etc.  

Um? That is about it.  I can't wait to go out west again and enjoy the
whole summer there.  My best friend from childhood and one of my
brothers go to school at Bozeman which will be a plus.  I just got back
from Seattle for my spring break (yes, we did leave better weather and
cute girls but hey it's my hometown) and can't wait to head in that
direction again.  I am not sure what the criteria for this "chain-email"
is but I think this will do.  Can't wait to meet everyone. 

                         Andy

========================================

Hey everyone,
 
Im currently finishing my junior year at the University of Wisconsin-La
Crosse.  Im double majoring in physics and mechanical engineering.  I
have completed most of my physics courses and as part of my program i
will be transferring to finish my degrees at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison starting this fall. (La Crosse does not offer
engineering courses).  Im really involved in the department at my
university and the professors often have me help with seminars and
special programs.  For the last few semesters I have helped teach one of
the really basic physics courses - Physical Science for educators.
 
Let's see.  I grew up mostly in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (and yes Im a
Packer fan, which is the first question people seem to ask me).  I love
camping, soccer, skiing, slacklining, drawing and painting, movies!
etc.   Basically Im always up for meeting new people and new adventures.
Im excited to go to montana because I have never been to the far
northwestern part of the country and im looking forward to the hiking
and outdoors fun. 
 
Thats all I can think of for now.  I cant wait to meet all of you.
 
 
- Jenny  (or Jenn if you prefer)

========================================

Hi everyone!

I'm finishing my junior year as a physics major at Loyola University
in Chicago.  I'm from Illinois and I grew up in a smaller town
about 1.5hr from Chicago and while I love Chicago, I'm really
looking forward to a summer in Bozeman.

As for my favorite things...I love running, triathlons, bikes,
and anything outdoors or adventurous, studying spanish and french
and I play the violin in Loyola's Orchestra. I'm planning on going
to grad school when I'm done at Loyola but where and for what is
still very much up in the air.

I think that just about covers everything.  I'm definitely looking
forward to an exciting new experience this summer and I can't wait
to meet everybody.  Good luck with the rest of your semester and
see you in June:)

Emily McLinden

========================================

Hey to all,
 
Okay, were to begin;
My name is Kudzanayi Munetsi-Mugomba, and it pretty much doesn't take a
rocket scientist (although we are all trying to be one, in some respect)
to figure out that I am not of US origin. Well, I come from Zimbabwe,
and I guess if you pretty much don't know where or anything about it,
this is the best time to call upon our reliable friend GOOGLE. 
Anyway, I'm at Lincoln University, am a sophomore, and my academic
status denounces the number of years I've been in this country.
 
Why Physics, hmm...... I'm actually a double major in Physcis and
Applied Mathematics with a minor in Japanese.
Well I must say this introduction idea is really great, and all credit
to the brains behind it. I've never been to Montana, and the only place
closest to the West I've been to the west is Carlifonia. oh yeah and my
school is in PA, Pennsylvania. 
what do I like doing, well I'm pretty up for anything interesting, which
is to sum up reading, biking, playing tennis, soccer, volleyball, table
tennis socializing, and everything else I can't think about right now. 
I guess I'll be meeting you guys in the Bozone this summer.
 
In the case you can't pronounce my name, everyone else calls me 
Kudzi, (and how my boss pronounces my name COULD Z)
 
Kudzanayi Munetsi-Mugomba

========================================

Hey!

I'm Alex.  I'm a Scot and currently studying Mathematics and
Theoretical Physics at the University of St Andrews.

All sport is good and I love adventure.  I normally combine these
in mountaineering/climbing - an attached photo shows me playing
in Fuselage Gully in Torridon; so called because it contains the
wreckage of a Lancaster bomber.  I'll warn you now, mountaineering
sits on the boundary between passion and obsession and I'm quite
excited about the "big mountains" (glaciers?) to be found in the
Rockies.  Have just started slacklining too, by the way.

Music seems like another popular theme.  I enjoy singing and sing
with the Gospel Choir here - admittedly a small group, but great fun
and a good opportunity for fellowship.  Added to that are some piano,
cello and guitar abilities although practice has been dramatically
neglected.  Finally, I have a bagpipe chanter on which I can bash
out three(?) tunes.  I'm hoping this will improve as proper pipes
can sound awesome.

I'm quite curious about travelling the American North West.
My family history includes a bishop's son, banished by his puritan
step-mother for saving a few bottles of wine from her purges and
hiding them beneath his bed.  He headed to North America (Canada
I think) and became a cowboy.  It sounds like there's a culture
quite different to that I know from Europe - for a start, guns to me
are rifle club, the forces or a few criminal gangs in Birmingham.
I believe it's a little different in Montana.  Also, we know how
to say tomato.

I look forward to meeting you all,

Alex

========================================

Hello Everyone,
 
I am Crystal Fordyce, and I am a junior physics major at Clemson
University in South Carolina. I was born in South Carolina, and I was
raised here. The furthest north I have been was Ducktown, Tenn and the
furthest west I have been was Atlanta, Georgia. Needless to say going to
Bozeman will be a big eye opener for me. 
 
When it was time for me to enter middle school I had a choice between an
arts academy where I could improve my drawing skills, or a private
school where the math and sciences were emphasized. I choose the latter;
because my real passion was in astronomy. I entered Clemson as a major
in chemical engineering but I soon recognized the error of my way and
switched to physics.
 
After my physics BS, I am planning on going to grad school for a Ph.D in
astrophysics. My ultimate goal is to make space colonization a reality.
 
My favorite hobby is to make crafts like jewelry, flower arrangements,
sewing and the like. But I also enjoy spending hours at playing video
games =). Anyone want to try their luck at Civ 4? 
 
I am ecstatic about going to Bozeman and meeting people from different
backgrounds. I am looking forwards to visiting Yellowstone, hiking,
whitewater rafting, and having a blast. 
 
I hope everyone has a great semester. See ya at Bozeman.
 
* Crystal Fordyce  (
                            Live Long, Laugh Long,
                                  Yesterday was History,
                                        Tomorrow is a Mystery.