"I learned how to learn"

"That was always my goal. To play professional baseball. And I was good, very good. But injured my elbow in senior year so I ended up in surgery and rehab and taking classes at a local community college. I started playing again and got a scholarship to the University of San Francisco, so I thought this is a good opportunity. I majored in physics because – because I just thought I might as well do something hard, because what’s the point! But I kept getting injured and more surgeries and more rehab. It looked like it wasn’t going to happen for me. It was tough, but it was almost a relief. And after that I started taking school more seriously, and from there it has just been physics.

I like math. But the most exciting part came in college when you get past the point of struggling with the math and can use it as a tool. Like when you solve your first big equation - it doesn’t actually have to be that big – it’s exciting because that’s when you just click and figure out how to do it. And that’s exciting. It’s the best part, for sure.

People ask me “why Sweden” all the time and there are multiple answers.

When I got to a certain age, I knew I wanted to kind of branch out - I wanted to leave California see something different, go to Europe, travel – and when the opportunity presented itself, I was ready. Also, her name is Gabriella. She was a Swedish au pair in San Francisco at the time I was going to school there. We met on Tinder and went for a date at the Pier and we started seeing each other. Finally, we started talking about moving to Stockholm. I had a professor in San Francisco who said that they actually knew someone at Stockholm University and that it’s quite a good programme and you should give it a try.

One big difference with studying at SU, is that I really feel like here they make you take responsibility for your work. Whereas back home they kind of hold your hand through the process and make sure you know what you are doing. Here it’s more of a system that makes you want to be able to do it on your own. It’s the way is set up, and it’s a good thing because I learned a lot more, and I learned how to learn more.

So, when Gabriella asks me if it was the right decision, the answer is: yes, definitely!"

Daniel Slominski

To learn more about the master's programme, see Master's Programme in Theoretical Physics.

Visit su.se/study for more information about studying at Stockholm University.