(Title is a play off of the Engineering “Hello, World!”)

So from today I’ve got 480 days until my the end of my initial service contract at my current employment.

It is an honor to serve in the current position that I hold, and I have the option to continue to serve here, but I decided a week ago to take the first steps in pursuing my dream/life goal/raison d’être: to become a scientist!  More specifically, a Nuclear Fusion Scientist/Engineer!

However, my goal is not just to become a nuclear fusion scientist and then suddenly retire, but to do something, make something.  And so the actual goal is to champion and perfect “Nuclear Fusion Power.”  To bring the power of the stars home on earth to power everything from light bulbs at home to forward research bases on Mars.  And all with renewable, sustainable, zero carbon emission Hydrogen!

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Now, a quick background on the basics of who I am, how I am going to achieve my goals, and the purpose of this blog.

WARNING: #lifestory

I am currently employed in a large bureaucracy filled with great people, an honorable mission, and cool uniforms.  I’m blessed to be in the position I am in, and have been able to see new parts of the world and learn how to lead, manage, and train teams of 30-150 young, athletic, and technical individuals.  My current position has allowed to me completely pay off my undergraduate debts, trained me well on all sorts of technical and physical leadership and management roles, and has set me up for success in the future with whatever I choose to do—whether continue to serve here, or to pursue my passions for science and engineering.

Since I was young I have been fascinated by science – especially Physics… but without knowing what the word “Physics” meant.   From the the idea of dividing matter in half into infinitesimally small units, to imagining the infinitely large Universe, to the realization that the Sun was a star—my childhood mind was defined by the game of “Ask Me Anything,” that my dad would play with me every evening.  And I would almost invariably ask him about outer space and the universe–“how big is the sun, how big is the universe, what are stars made of, what is water made of, can you make water, what’s a molecule, what’s an atom…” to which my dad gave me college-level answers that made him seem like the ultimate source of knowledge in the universe.  (You still are, Dad.)

I don’t know how many times I told you that I wanted to be a Scientist when I grow up, but now my time is coming.

//break break for the negative deviation in my trajectory//

[During primary education I was a highly charged particle absorbing every bit of knowledge and racking up the A’s in my orbit towards an IV League University of my choice.  Everything was great through sophomore year of high school.  I was in all AP/IB super advanced classes and had my sights set on nothing but the best.  During my junior year I hit the popular crowd field and took a sharp turn down the negative y-axis.  Thanks to my true friends from my former nerdom, I was able to reestablish my track and by senior year I was near the top of my class again and captain of the state champ soccer team.  The effects of the earlier deviation however had become pronounced, and I felt that I was out of my former running for becoming the next Beautiful Mind at Princeton.  I wasn’t a delinquent, by any means, but I wasn’t in the running for the Presidential Scholarship at Harvard anymore so I settled with a scholarship program that incurred a four year prison management employment payback.  And long story short during college I had a lot of trouble deciding what I wanted to do, knowing that I had a 4 management job afterwards, so I dabbled and ended up getting a Linguistics B.A.  I never would have imagined myself going for a B.A., but ultimately the low credit requirement allowed me to take courses in Computer Science, Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Engineering, Business, Psychology, and even to study abroad in the Russian Federation.  But something was still missing from my academic and knowledge-seeking adventure…]

//end break back to now//

And now that my prison management contract ends in January of 2017, and I see the light at the end of the wormhole, I am ready to press forward will full momentum towards realizing my dream of become a real scientist and uncovering the most exciting secrets of our Universe.   It has taken me 7 years since high school to finally define what kind of scientist I want to be: a Nuclear Fusion Physicist / Engineer! 

Thus, Zlotu’s quest begins.  Stay tuned for my initial trajectory and long term plan!