From watching physics videos in Pakistan to supporting fellow physics students in Wisconsin

As a high school student in Lahore, Pakistan, Laraib Irfan wasn’t sure what field of science she wanted to study — until she got hooked on YouTube videos about the Big Bang and other physics. “This entire idea of where we come from” interested her, she says. She decided to major in the field and headed to Beloit College in Wisconsin to start her first year of college.

It was an adjustment. “Back at home, [physics] was mostly rote learning,” she says. At Beloit, a liberal arts college, physics classes were rooted in creative problem-solving. Irfan is grateful for that approach, but it felt new. And the physics department was small, with only a few professors. She felt isolated.

That began to change when a new professor, Carlos Cartagena-Sanchez, joined the department. The small community became more cohesive. They started a physics and astronomy club, hosting social activities and campus stargazing nights. Irfan started to get to know and rely on her classmates.

To hone her research skills, Irfan applied to a program at the U.S. Particle Accelerator School. As part of the application, the organizers had students sign up for APS publications. Soon after, she got an email from APS seeking APS Student Ambassadors.

“I thought this was the perfect way to get connected with the community,” she says.

As an ambassador, Irfan is the APS point of contact for her campus community. She keeps her department informed about APS meetings, scholarships, grants, and other opportunities, encouraging students to apply and stay active in the larger physics community. It’s a role she’s happy with.

“Before I joined APS, I did not know of any physics students [on campus] who had gone to any conferences,” she says. But when she became an ambassador in January 2024, she started hearing about the upcoming April Meeting in California. She shared the details with fellow undergraduates and, a few months later, four of them — all first-time conference attendees — arrived in Sacramento. Beloit’s Physics and Astronomy Club now prioritizes sending students to conferences.

In January 2025, Irfan attended the APS Annual Leadership Meeting and met other student ambassadors, APS leaders, and a physicist from her home country, Talat Rahman. By coincidence, Rahman had earned her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester, where Irfan had just been accepted for graduate school. The chance conversation “ made me feel a lot more comfortable with the process of enrolling in a doctoral program,” Irfan says. She’ll be starting at Rochester this fall.

“Talking to people and networking is really a very strong form of encouragement,” Irfan says. She credits the APS Student Ambassador program for helping her make new connections — and helping her peers do the same. “It has been a really enriching experience.”