Biography - Summer 2012

(Updated biography can be found here.)

My name is Melia Bonomo, and this summer I’ll be working in the Laser Teaching Center with Dr. Noé on a project we will develop together in the first week or so. In the fall I will be going into my senior year at Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA), where I’m majoring in physics and minoring in Italian.

At my high school in Pelham, NY, I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take my life, but I was under the impression I would lean towards fine arts or art history. I had still always been intrigued by math and problem solving, especially working through lateral thinking puzzles. My first interest in physics wasn’t sparked until I took a Regents course on the subject in my junior year of high school. The teacher, Mr. Ginter, had a lifetime of interesting physics stories of both general applications of the topics we covered and of his experiences. From my demonstrated knack for the subject, he encouraged me to pursue a career in physics, however at that point in my life I did not think I would actually continue studying it in college. And then senior year I decided against take a science course all together in order to focus on my AP electives: calculus and fine arts.

To fulfill Dickinson’s lab science requirement, I decided to take Introductory Workshop Physics, almost on a whim. It was mostly because I had remembered doing well in my high school physics class, and among the other sciences, it was the one that I understood the best. Throughout the course, students were encouraged to actively participate in daily demonstrations and other activities. It was fascinating to personally test out all of the equations, relationships, and theories instead of only reading about them in textbooks because it really helped bring the topics to life in a whole new way. Additionally, Professor Pfister’s extreme enthusiasm for physics definitely rubbed off on me. Two semesters later and the department had won me over. I handed in my major declaration form at the beginning of my sophomore year and promptly enrolled in the subsequent courses. But at the same time, I realized I didn’t have to give up my love of art and art history, these were topics I could continue to study on the side and even come to incorporate with physics.

At this point, I don’t feel myself gravitating towards one subarea of physics yet. I have taken a wide range of courses in which each has offered something to stimulate my curiosity. Most times when I start to become engrossed in a particular subtopic of physics, I discover new and exciting things that I want to learn more about, and therefore for the time being I plan to study as much as I can in a variety of these areas. I am always interested in figuring out how things work and the strange little phenomena that occur in experiments both in the classroom and in daily life that we may take for granted.

Along side this love of physics that I developed, I have always been interested in teaching. Even if you had asked me back in Elementary School, I would have told you I wanted to become a teacher. Of what? I wasn’t sure yet. All I knew was that I was attracted to the idea of being able to educate others and make them excited to continue learning. Slowly as I took more physics classes, I realized that I could really see myself teaching this subject some day. The thing about physics is that most students shy away from the subject immediately upon hearing the name alone. However I believe that as long as the basic foundations are laid out properly, any student can excel in physics and realize its fascinating possibilities. The key is to build slowly upon previous knowledge, encourage repetition of the essential topics, and provide active learning activities so that the students can understand the concepts rather than just memorizing the facts.

I’m excited to explore optics more in depth this summer and come away from the program with a valuable undergraduate research experience, both in gaining a better personal grasp of the subject material and in practicing to teach it to others.

Written 13 June 2012