My Aims, Update

Following on from a comment last week, I have decided to give a quick update on my aims and goals, of this experiment.  This is an update to my first ever post that I wrote back in February 2011 and I think that I will now provide an update and overview of each year, as I progress.


The comment that led me to writing this post, was from a learned fellow blogger and physicist.  He had commented that my ambition had ostensibly altered path, and was curious to know whether this was the case.

Well, my aim hasn't altered, but my understanding of my chosen field has developed, and this is causing the slight nudging of direction, to achieve that aim.

I think that what is happening, regarding aim and ambition, is that when I made my decision at the start of the journey, I had a 'layman's' understanding of the different areas of physics and maths.  I knew clearly in my head what I wanted to achieve i.e. learn lots of maths and apply it to some of the groundbreaking areas of theoretical physics.

Hence the theme of 'from GCSE maths to...'. And  this aim definitely hasn't changed.  What has happened, is I have been building up a better understanding and holistic view of maths and science in general, and the areas that I am interested in pursuing are, as rightly pointed out, more mathematical applications to physics, rather than physics, with maths thrown in.

I guess that is what I have enjoyed the most about this endeavour; I have found that my goals were initially broad and based on a low level of technical and professional knowledge, of the areas that I want to pursue.

It is only now since I have studied and discovered knowledge from various sources, that I am achieving a greater understanding of my proposed field of interest.  And as that base of understanding grows, and as I sample more of what maths and physics has to offer; I have no doubt that my field of interest will narrow further and the language that I use to describe my goals, will become more exact and discriminant, in its contextual meaning.

Another very important and undeniable reality that I have discovered, as part of the first steps of my journey; is that my best chance of success as a person who needs to continue to support a family and home throughout my studies, is to study mathematical physics.  This subject area lends itself more to either part-time, distance or self directed learning, as opposed to experimental or other areas of physics.

The reality is, that I can't study full time and loose my salary; and I suspect that to do a PhD in any physics that required me to be based 9-5 Mon-Fri at a lab, would not be realistic for me as a full time dad and employee.

Saying that, the plan is to try and reduce my hours at work once I start the masters either with the O.U or  K.C.L, for example; but I still need to feed a family of four!

I think that part of the experiment and what will hopefully be captured over the next few years in this blog; is the evolution and discovery of what works and what doesn't, for a person in my position.

I truly believe that whether I succeed or not, academically; the experiment will have been a success.  I am hoping that during that time, I will have created a record of the decisions made, the work studied, the ups and downs, and also, how it has shaped my aims, goals and ambitions.

One aspect that will be constant, is my dedication to study, my ambition and my time allocated to achieving my goals.  Also, one of the best aspects of blogging this experiment, is that the comments I receive, help enormously and make it a less isolated experience whilst distance learning.