If you’d have asked Wesley Winter six years ago what he’d be doing now, his answer wouldn’t look anything like what he’s actually accomplished.
Recently named one of Paradise Valley Community College’s All-USA Scholars, Winter is now headed to Chicago this summer to participate in the United States Department of Energy’s Community College Internships program at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). The highly competitive and prestigious internship program gives students hands-on experience with the world’s most advanced particle accelerators, as well as digging down to the smallest building blocks of matter.
“I’m proud to represent PVCC; it’s a very special place to me… it’s home,” said Winter. “To be awarded this opportunity to work on an experiment that is the area of expertise I’m interested in pursuing is almost surreal.”
As a triple-major student, Winter is set to graduate in December 2023 with an associates in science degree with an emphasis in physics, an associates in arts with an emphasis on mathematics, and an associates in applied science in engineering technology. And while studying high energy particle physics is his first love and top priority, he said, the math and engineering degrees will be more applicable in the real world. All of which seemed unattainable just a few years ago.
Winter described his adolescents and high school years as ‘difficult.’ Fast forward to 2019, Winter enrolled at PVCC and said he felt seen for the first time in years.
“Most people come to community college as a last option… I discovered a place to cement my foundation surrounded by people who see me, inspire me, and lift me up,” he said. Discovering faculty mentors and becoming a peer leader himself granted Winter a level of respect never before felt. Humbled, Winter said his experience at PVCC has been as a collaboration rather than a competition amongst students.
“I’ve met a lot of people I look up to who have always affirmed my intelligence and my abilities…. It’s this subtle recognition of belief in someone that helps a student drive forward, keep going, and be better,” Winter said.
Heading to Chicago in early June, Winter will spend 10 weeks at Fermilab working in his preferred niche - High Energy Particle Physics - which only a handful of labs around the world offer. Upon graduating from PVCC in December, Winter plans to continue his education at Arizona State University working towards a double bachelors in engineering and physics. Winter said his end goal is a PhD in Physics and teaching at the community college, inspiring young students just as he was inspired.