My name is Rianne Woudsma. I was born in the Netherlands and moved the United States of America at 4 years old with my parents and two younger siblings. At this age, you learn that language you are around most, so likely I was learning English at school while speaking Dutch at home, which eventually caused me to be bilingual as I have kept that going in my daily routine. Growing up, I was in the house with many dutch traditions and outside with the American life style.

I grew up in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake in Virginia. I graduated from Grassfield High School and their STEM Program. I am now at Longwood with the Cormier Honors College and in the LIFE STEM Program.

I decided to come to Longwood University because I wanted to go to a small school. I also liked the idea of a dual degree program, which is one of the reasons that I have chosen physics as my major. Another reason is because I loved my AP Physics class in high school and my teacher was great. He truly cared about how I felt about the class and made sure I understood all the material. My last reason for choosing physic as my major is because ever since I was 13, I wanted to be an astronaut or work at NASA. I know I have the work ethic to make it happen.