Aspiring Filipina astrophysicist Hillary Diane Andales has received several admission offers and fellowships for doctorate studies at prestigious global universities in the United States, placing the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) Eastern Visayas and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scholar closer to her childhood dream.
The global winner of the 2017 Breakthrough Junior Challenge was accepted to doctoral programs in 8 US universities. Among them, she chose the University of Chicago.
Andales plans to pursue a doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics after graduating from MIT, where she currently majors in Physics and minors in both Astronomy and Science, Technology, and Society.
The PSHS alumna’s multiple acceptance offers from some of the world’s leading universities drew the praise and admiration of netizens on social media.
“Coming out of my social media hiatus to share that I’m closer to my dream of getting a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics! This dream started when I was 5 years old, when I learned that more than a million Earths could fit inside the Sun,” Hillary Diane Andales wrote in a Facebook post in February 2023.
According to Andales, the journey to fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming an astrophysicist was not easy as she had to leave her hometown in the Philippines to study abroad.
“Now, after almost two decades of moving toward this dream, I have the privilege of getting paid to study galaxies for the next 6 years. The road getting here was tough. I moved away from my home in the Philippines to a foreign (yet wonderful) place that endlessly made me question myself,” Andales continued.
The Filipina scholar also expressed her thanks to her professors and peers at MIT, the esteemed university that offered her a scholarship after she won the 2017 Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a global video contest for young scientists.
Known as the “Oscars of Science,” the science competition paved the way for Andales to study at MIT on a scholarship. It also intensified her interest in physics and ignited her passion for science communication.
Source: Margo Hannah de Guzman Quadra, Good News Pilipinas
