Valerie Saylor

Hello, my name is Valerie Saylor.  I was born in a small suburb outside of Chicago Illinois, however my father moved the two of us to Seattle, Washington in the spring of 1983.  We’ve lived in the South Puget Sound area since about 1985.  I am a junior here at the University of Washington, and a transfer student from Highline College.  I’ve had an interest in science since at least the age of seven (if not earlier).  At the age of fourteen, my dad directed me toward some of Stephen Hawking’s theories, and other more abstruse theoretical physics ideas.  These encompassed the science of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and so on.  I’ve had a passion for anything space-related since then.  I didn’t jump immediately into college, waited a considerable amount of time until restarting my educational path, and would definitely be considered a nontraditional student.  I haven’t yet decided whether double majoring in physics and astronomy is a better fit than solely astronomy, but astronomy will be the focus.  I hope to direct my eventual study toward the detection of extrasolar planets, and perhaps astrobiology, though I also love contemplating certain ideas from cosmology and theoretical physics.