My name is Christopher Johnstone Brown and I presently reside in Summit County Colorado.

I attended the local high school until last semester when I graduated; I was 28th in my class of 200 and took advanced courses to enhance my education. While still considered part of the high school until I walk in May, I am currently enrolled in online courses at the Colorado Mountain College to get a head start on my college education. My family is primarily from the British isles where we can trace our ancestry to the Johnstone and McAdams clans of Scotland, the Blighs and Notleys of England, and the Viking invaders who settled in Northumbria. Over the centuries my family has come over to the Americas in various ways: as military exiles for fighting against Cornwallis, as homesteaders and settlers in California, or as Captain of the Bounty in her majestys navy. Gradually my ancestors, in one way or another, made it to California where the majority of my relatives live. I myself am the only native Coloradan born into the family and am the first to be born outside of California in six generations. I have chosen to attend U.C.C.S for the purpose of pursuing a degree in Astrophysics. While this is not a specific field of study until I attend a post graduate school, U.C.C.S can provide a steady foundation for me to pursue my passion. The spark for my interest in Astrophysics came from my physics teacher at Summit High; his lectures on the fundamentals of physics coupled with a strong fascination for space made me acutely aware of what I wanted to pursue in college. Though I do not know where I will find employment, with advancements such as breaking the speed of light at C.E.R.N laboratories I hope to contribute to the endeavor of space exploration. The step towards attending college is a challenging one that I am excited to make. It will be the first time that I will be away from my family for an extended period of time and I will be required to rely upon myself. I will need to adjust to the new academic and social climates of the campus, which will occur rather quickly as it generally does for most. I will already be somewhat prepared for the workload from advanced courses in high school and the online courses I am taking, though there will be adjustment for each professor. The primary challenge in college will be the financial aspect, which will

place strain on me and my family. By gaining this scholarship that strain will be alleviated somewhat for my family and it will allow me to more easily pursue my college education.