Mychal Valle overcame several challenges to complete his baccalaureate this year Author: Iqbal Pittalwala
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When he joined the U.S. Navy in 2010, Mychal Valle didn’t think he would ever return to school. After all, he got to work on new radar technologies in the navy and got recognized for writing technical manuals. But by the time he left the navy in 2016, Valle’s service helped him discover his passion: a career in science.
Now 33, Valle graduates with a bachelor’s degree in applied physics and engineering from UC Riverside next month. He has been accepted into the UCLA Physics Bridge Program, giving him two years of full funding beginning this fall for a master’s level program in physics and automatic enrollment as a doctoral student at UCLA after passing the comprehensive exam.
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Adriana Angel /The Highlander
During my childhood, I often gazed upon the night sky and stared in awe at the moon that was seemingly following me. After grasping the concept of distance and sadly realizing the moon was not following me, I still looked up at the moon to admire its beauty. Ever since, I wished I could witness it up close, and on Jan. 21, I was finally able to bear witness to the moon in all its glory albeit virtually.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy, alongside the Riverside Astronomical Society (RAS), hosted an interactive and fun virtual stargazing event of the moon. It was co-hosted by Xinnan Du, who is in charge of outreach for UCR’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, and John Liderbach-Vega, outreach director for RAS. Alongside the two, members of the RAS such as Jose Castro, Brian Cox, Manny Leinz and Alex McConohay could be seen each giving a tour of specific parts of the moon later on.