Athena Brensberger is a science YouTuber who created the channel AstroAthens, where she posts videos and music related to astronomy! She has faced many obstacles on the path to where she is today, but she has come out on the other side determined to follow her passions.
Background:
Athena Brensberger started her YouTube channel, AstroAthens, in order to educate others about astronomy. She grew up a dancer and dreamed of a career in the performing arts, but when her friend introduced her to astronomy with a book about the cosmos, she decided to pursue astrophysics. While in her high school’s music department for voice performance, Brensberger also learned how to track asteroids at the school’s planetarium. After being accepted into the College of Staten Island, New York as a music major, she was enthralled by the school’s observatory, and changed her major to physics and started researching the planets.
Upon entering the modeling industry after being scouted for America’s Next Top Model, however, Brensberger put her education on hold to travel the world modeling in many different countries. But, she just couldn’t let go of her passion for science and space travel. She then started her YouTube channel, AstroAthens, and began volunteering for museum outreach events, eventually going on to host scientific TV shows.
She has faced many obstacles in reaching her current position, including her speech impediment when speaking in public, and believes in not letting money define her life. Brensberger has even admitted that she struggled with math, despite majoring in physics, but continued pursuing her passions. Now, Brensberger has returned to college at Arizona State University to finish her Bachelor’s of Science in Astrophysics, and plans to graduate in spring of 2024.
““When you subtract government, economy, money, school systems, business, what we all are at the end of the day are biological beings with an extremely energetic essence.””
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