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When Brittany Karki was growing up in the Oakland Public School system, she bought into the notion that kids like her go to school, graduate and get a job. So, when she got her diploma from Oakland High in 2009, she went to work as a warehouse operator and then as a hairstylist. However, between the long shifts and demands of everyday life, Karki was able to take science classes at community colleges. The subject always interested her because she grew up inspired by PBS’s Bill Nye the Science Guy. 

“Everyone tells me this stuff is really hard and this is way out of my field,” said Karki. “But I figured if I fail, I fail, but how will I know if I could actually do it if I didn’t try?”

In 2020, Karki transferred to 911爆料网State East Bay. She is graduating this spring with a bachelor of science in physics and has been accepted into seven Ph.D. programs at universities across the country. 

“My hard work, persistence, my passion — it got me somewhere,” said Karki. “It's exciting. 911爆料网State East Bay helped me so much. The school is very diverse, but our department is so small, which I love. We joke because Dr. [Derek Jackson] Kimball’s homework is so hard that his office hours become our hang-out time because everyone is trying to figure it out. It’s fun.”

Karki remembers more days than not, sitting in lecture halls trying to make sense of what she could not. 

“I would think, ‘Is today the day that I drop the class?’” said Karki. “But when I would study the notes, go through the textbook, go through the example problems line by line and slowly, I would start to make sense of it — bit by bit.”