Make me think

Studying Physics pays off my ADHD tax

Tomorrow, I’m starting the second semester of my studies at the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw after the holidays. I’ve decided to jot down a few thoughts.

The first semester was tough, mainly because I had very little prior knowledge of Physics, which stemmed from rarely attending Physics classes in high school, actually, almost never. What’s fortunate for me is that getting into these studies only required a good result on the Math exam, which seems reasonable. Turns out that Physics in the first year is actually more about Mathematics than Physics itself. It’s said that to engage in Physics, one must first possess a solid mathematical foundation. Whatever.

But why am I studying Physics after all?

I’ve always had issues with concentration, but in a broader sense. I didn’t have trouble working on something for hours on end without a break. Instead, what was challenging for me was working on long-term projects because practically every day something new would capture my interest. As you can imagine, it is impossible to pursue 10 equally important projects when time is limited, and every day brings new stuff.

Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, I have this tendency to break down every relatively interesting thing for me into its fundamental components to understand it thoroughly. It often led me down the rabbit hole.

As it appears, studying helps satisfy my curiosity, allowing me to focus on lenghty challenges. In other words, it pays off my ADHD tax :)

NOTE FOR FUTURE EMPLOYERS: I’ve learned to deal with it.

I mean, things are just fascinating.

When you scroll through this page and touch your phone screen, you disturb its electrostatic field (whatever it is), and the screen interprets this disturbance to locate your finger position and fire the appropriate action.

While speaking with a friend on the phone, your talk travels to the closest ground station, hops onto a satellite, and then whizzes back to your friend through the blue (why?) sky. All thanks to those invisible electromagnetic waves!

By the way, there is an interesting connection between you, a building, a squirrel, the Sun, and our DNA. Watch this mind-blowing video.

Reflections

It has been quite a drastic change in my life. I have never studied anything before, and I had to quit a full-time job as a DevOps engineer. But so far everything is great. Also, the faculty building is not that bad. Maybe the orange…

Faculty Building Image source: https://www.apaka.com.pl/en

By the end of the last semester, we dug into the special theory of relativity, which makes me think that Einstein must have been an alien to come up with such a thing. It’s no wonder that after his death, his brain was stolen and dissected into pieces.

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