Rachel Willmore is from Renton, Washington. She enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, rock climbing and baking. Her favorite thing about geology is the story of “deep time” and recent events that rock and soil can tell us. Although she’s not sure what she wants to pursue after she graduates, she is researching geochemistry of Antarctic soils for her thesis. Rachel’s story of choosing this major is an interesting one. In 2001 the mw 6.8 Nisqually Earthquake “shook her up” as a kid. She remembers cracking open her family’s encyclopedia with her dad to learn how earthquakes happened. Years later she took Geology 101 in high school and it’s stuck with her ever since. When asked what she would tell a student who is wondering if they should change their major to geology she says, “determine what brings you joy and pursue that.”