Published 16:04 IST, November 22nd 2019
Sundar Pichai praises woman who scored 0 in quantum physics exam
Google CEO Sundar Pichai applauded an astrophysicist for turning around the early failure, of scoring zero in quantum physics, into a remarkable success.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai applauded an astrophysicist for turning around the early failure into a remarkable success. Sarafina Nance, an Astrophysics PhD student, shared her story on Twitter which started a chain of reactions from users with their own story.
Pichai's reaction to the story
The 26-year-old student took to Twitter saying she scored zero in a quantum physics exam four years ago and wanted to quit Physics, but now she is in a top tier astrophysics PhD program and has published two papers. “STEM is hard for everyone - grades don’t mean you’re not good enough to do it,” she said referring to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Google CEO praised Nance’s tweet saying it is an inspiring story.
Users share their story
The tweet created a storm on the micro-blogging website and users started sharing their own story. A user said that she failed in Chemistry twice in undergrad but now she has a PhD in science education and has presented her research at international conferences.
“This reminds me... I really struggled with English for several years and still remember getting a 5 on a scale from 4-10. Now I'm doing a PhD in Oxford (ironically, the oldest uni in the English-speaking world) and I think most of the time people understand what I am saying,” tweeted a user. "Not quite STEM academics, but when I got to silicon valley I applied to 100+ jobs, rejected by all but the one that hired me. Six years later I’m a PM at Google doing *exactly* the kinds of products I love," replied another user.
Updated 16:48 IST, November 22nd 2019