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Student Voices
Ben Hillman
- Hometown: Lynnwood, WA
- Major: Physics
Influential Professors
Professors Kristen Larson and Brad Johnson have been particularly influential during my time at Western. I took some courses from Dr. Larson my first few quarters at Western, and she really helped to get me excited about the physics program here. Dr. Larson also did a lot to help prepare me for the courses I had ahead of me.
Inspiring Class
My first course with Dr. Johnson was a course in computational physics last spring. I enjoyed the course so much that I think I want to pursue a career in that field. I am also doing some research with Dr. Johnson, which has been a great experience. We are working on a computer model to support experimental research that some people in the Chemistry Department are doing with organic semiconductors. I have written all of the computer code for the model from scratch with guidance from Dr. Johnson, and have done some simulations with it on Dr. Johnson's computer clusters which were purchased especially for this project.
National Exposure
I recently got to attend the American Physical Society's March Meeting in New Orleans to present a poster on our research efforts so far, which was an amazing experience and a wonderful opportunity which came out of working on this project. I am excited to continue working on the project this summer while I prepare myself for graduate school.
Preparation for the Future
Having the opportunity to participate in research as an undergraduate and working as a lab T.A. have been my most positive and significant experiences at Western. Both of these experiences have done a lot to prepare me for graduate school, and these are two experiences that would likely be unavailable to me had I gone to a larger school.
Outside the Classroom
I am a hockey player, and have played on the Western club ice hockey team for the past two years. I also play in a few men's hockey leagues here in Bellingham.
Tight-Knit Community
I don't think I will ever forget the friends I have made within the Physics Department. We have a fairly small class size, and we all have spent quite a few late nights working together in our shared T.A. office. There is something about working hard on something that brings people together.
Life after Western
I am graduating this spring, and I will continue to do research with Dr. Johnson at least through the summer. I plan to take next year off to research and apply to grad schools. From there I plan to pursue a PhD in physics while studying some sort of theoretical/computational physics.