Derby name: Higgs Bosom
Number: 0.734
Derby Nickname: Higgs, Higgsy (Higgly-Piggly if you’re Ginger <3 )
Significance of name/number: 0.734 (eV) is the energy of a special nuclear resonance state in lanthanum-139…I did my graduate work on this resonance, so I spent quite a few years staring at this number!
Derbyversary: June 2021
Favorite Derby Position: What’s my favorite position? Reverse cowgi—oh, wait, you said favorite *skating* position…my bad! I like it all, but jammer/pivot is what I probably like the most right now.
Favorite Food: If for some reason I ever wind up on death row and get one last meal request, I want it to be the hot and sour soup from Kung Food Chu’s AmerAsia. 1,415 miles might be outside of their delivery radius, though…
Pre-game song: “Crazy, Mad, Insane” by Beast in Black to GET PUMPED; the Rainbow Road theme from Maro Kart to STAY PUMPED.
Why derby? One of the coaches made the observation that people seem to find derby during periods of transition in their lives, and I guess the same is true for me. As I was finishing up a grueling 7-year PhD program and looking for what would come next, I found myself wondering: “hmm….now that I’m done with grad school, what *else* can hurt me?” So my masochistic self traded in my dissertation for a full-contact sport! 😉