How did you become a theoretical particle physicist?

Leila from Argentina and Christoph from Austria give you answers to this question.

Christoph:

"In my bachelor’s I had absolutely no idea what particle physics is about. Although I already knew that I would like to do theoretical physics, I had not decided on a specific field. Then I moved to a different university for my master’s, where I had a lot of freedom in choosing courses, so I just picked the ones that sounded interesting to me. Before I realized it, most of my courses were focused on particle physics, and today I can say, that I would take the same courses again. In my master’s thesis, I then learned that I not only love studying physics, but that I also like working on the newest puzzles and challenges, which is why I decided to do a Ph.D."

Leila:

"My path was not so clear from the start. I was interested in different branches of science and I actually started my studies in biology. In the process I got to know more about physics and I ended up making the transition. I discovered I enjoyed a lot studying the mathematical models that can be developed to describe our physical world and to make predictions about experiments. This motivated me to choose some courses in theoretical particle physics at the last stages of my studies, and later on to pursue the Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Physics."