my favorite youtuber replied to my comment??? I THINK I’M IN LOVE
Nah, I’m kidding.
(Lol.. I don’t think I am :P)
I started getting into studying and acad-related channels from back to school hauls (which came from makeup vids... still very weird XD). I distinctly remember starting from ‘Typewritten vs. Handwritten Notes’ by Jake Wright, and going from there, I eventually ended up on SimonOxfPhys, Simon Clark’s channel.
Now, going into it, I thought that Simon was incredibly witty and super adorable - and he’s an amazing nerd. I gradually found out that I saw myself - or at least, wanted to see myself - in him in a very significant way. Some points:
- He mentioned that when he was a kid, he hated maths - not because he was bad, but because he found it difficult.Eventually though, he went on to like it enough to be able to successfully finish a Physics degree. I never particularly liked maths, and went on to hate it in high school, where one of my teachers said, “You know, you’re not bad - you’re just too lazy to practice.” But despite that, I ended up shifting programs to Mathematics and I finished it on time. :)
- He got into Oxford, but almost failed his first year. However, he re-sat his exams and went on to finish his Masters just shy of an upper first - like, literally just off by a few points. Maths wasn’t my first program, but I still finished it in the prescribed 4 years for my program. Also, I was just a few decimal points off from a cum laude. So. :))
- He’s doing work with atmospheric physics, working on a lot of modeling and dynamical equations - this is my fucking DREAM. I’ve loved meteorology since I was a kid, but not enough to pursue it; regardless, working in the field of chaos theory and complex systems is the reason I even decided to go to grad school! I’m definitely going to try to - no, not even try, I fucking WILL - apply to Exeter for PhD. Which brings me to the most important point...
- He’s a MATHS PHD STUDENT. Because Exeter has various research groups related to various dynamical systems - one devoted to atmospheric research, and another department for Systems, Dynamics, and Control. Which somehow put Simon and his research in the Maths department :)) Can you say #GOALS??? On that note, Oxford too has a department for complex systems research, which also puts it on my list. :)
Bonus: We both do church choir :D
I love Simon Clark so much, and he’s a huge inspiration for me right now - and probably will be for a while, too :)
So recently, I fucked up my analysis exam, and I watched Simon’s video on overcoming academic failure. I left a comment - my first significant one on YouTube - because I just wanted to thank him for being a huge source of happiness.
And then this happened:
And I’m STILL freaking out!!! So many blessings today, and this is the icing on the cake <3 If I didn’t love Simon already, I adore him so much more now :))
So... thank you Simon Clark, for being a wonderful bean, and being a source of inspiration for an awkward grad student such as myself. May the Force be with you :D
