Biography

Hi! My name is Kathy Camenzind, and I'm currently a junior at California High School in San Ramon, California. San Ramon is a small suburban town about 30 miles east of San Francisco, near Livermore, close to the area aound San Francisco Bay known as Silicon Valley. Growing up in this area filled with new technology and professional scientists (including my parents - my mother is a pediatrician and my father a chemist) has been a major influence in helping my interest in science develop. Science and technology has always been a part of my life, from programming Lego robots for my middle school FIRST competition to building intricate sets for my Odyssey of the Mind team, which one year included a pulley system that suspended a person in midair.

In the summer after 5th grade, I attended a Johns Hopkins CTY course in Science and Engineering, and this experience ignited my passion for science. I came to realize through experiments such as dropping watermelons from buildings and constructing marble roller coasters that physics could not only be useful, but also exciting. I've now taken many high school science classes including AP Physics, AP Chemistry, and biology, have been an active member of our school's Science Bowl team, and have taken an online class in Java programming to explore my interests. While I've enjoyed all of these experiences, it's physics that I've found a special connection with; it's physics that comes to me the most naturally, and which I can best see the utility of.

I further pursued my interest in physics two summers ago, when I attended another CTY course, this one in Electrical Engineering. For three weeks we explored the concepts behind electrical circuits, and ended up having a lot of lab work in which we used soldering irons and simple circuits (wires, capacitors, FLEDs, etc) to build basic solar-powered light-detecting robots. Before that summer, I had only done large-scale building projects, such as cardboard boats and acting sets, so it was a different experience for me to work on a more delicate and intricate scale; it was a change that I came to really enjoy, and one that put electrical engineering into one of my favorite topics to study.

Outside of science, I enjoy a lot of extracurricular activities. I'm an active member of our schools Model United Nations team, write creative stories, and play the alto saxophone. I also love to be outdoors, from playing soccer to backpacking for up to 11 days at a time during the summer. The biggest part of my life outside of science, however, is running. I'm a cross country and distance track runner, and spend a considerable amount of time training every day. It's through track that I've met a lot of my closest friends, who are like sisters to me. Running is also what allows me to keep focus throughout the year, as it grants a certain degree of consistency in a hectic life.

I'm really grateful to have this opportunity in the Laser Teaching Center this summer. Its a great way to explore a field that could very likely be a part of my future, as well as to meet other people who have similar interests and experience in scientific fields. I'm looking forward to arriving and beginning what I'm sure will be an incredible journey!