The Beginning

I was very fortunate growing up. While I had few friends and spent little time socializing, I had something most others don't. I had a crystal clear image of the night sky. I lived in the mountains above the smog from the nearby cities, far enough out to have little effect from light pollution. The air was cool and crisp, there was no such thing as a noisy neighbor or the unsettling whir of traffic and on an average night one could look up and see thousands of stars, and often the faint halo of the Milky Way.

This is a fairly accurate depiction of the night sky where I grew up. The clarity and tranquility was truly phenomenal.

This is my favorite place in the world: beneath the black-velvet sky, illuminated by the brilliance of the cosmos. When I was younger, I often found myself intimidated by the depth and infinite possibilities beyond the comfort of our planet and I'd sit there, in my precious scene, half in terror because of the mysterious world of which we are only a speck. As I grew older I slowly watched my peace of mind vanish as a flood of people gradually concealed the sky with their unnecessary lights. Now, the velvety mystery looks more like this: flat, boring, and unsatisfactory.

Astronomy
It wasn't until my sophomore year of high school when my eyes were opened to the wonderful world of science. I took my first physics class with a retired astronomer. Even celebrating his seventh decade, he still had more passion, motivation and desire for physics and astronomy than any person I had ever met. To top it off, every topic we covered in the class was useful and relevant, unlike the boring and repetitive history, English, and art classes we were forced to take. It was then that I learned of Astronomy and began to pursue further education.

An Astronomer's Role
Since then, I have learned countless things about astronomy and I now know just how vital it is. Astronomers examine stars, distant planets, galaxies, galactic dust, black holes and much, much more. They seek to expand our knowledge of the universe and enable us to accomplish many great things and answer numerous questions. Constantly astronomers work to clarify our understanding of the world both at home and beyond our planet.

Astronomers are the pioneers of the next frontier; they are the source of guidance to the next human accomplishment. They will lead the human race beyond the Earth and Sun to begin our incredible journey through the universe, and it all starts here with the careful collection and analysis of data.

What I speak of sounds a lot like a science-fiction fantasy, but I believe that with the right motivation and enough dedication our many-greats grandchildren will be among the first to step foot on a planet outside of our solar system.