I still remember fondly the time I got an A- on my 8th grade earth science paper. It was one of my proudest moments as a student.

Meanwhile, as MIT boasts, some folks are, well, a bit beyond that.

Physics is riddled with paradoxes: Think of how information leaks from supposedly inescapable black holes or how the conventional laws of physics break down at the quantum scale. Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski ’13 believes that within these apparent contradictions, new discoveries await.

Ah yes, “how the conventional laws of physics break down at the quantum scale.” I think about that often!

Well, apparently Ms. Pasterski thinks about it quite a bit. In fact, her entire life story seems to be just one long exercise of thinking.

Born in Chicago, some of Pasterski’s earliest accomplishments include:

Building her own Zenith aircraft starting from age 12.

Attending the prestigious Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Holding an internship at the space tech company Blue Origin at age 16.

Working as an aeronautical engineer at Boeing Phantom Works by 18.

Not a bad rap sheet for someone under 20!

She subsequently attended MIT, during which she did work at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (no biggie). She eventually graduated from the prestigious institution with “a 5.0 grade point average.” (I was not aware GPAs went that high.)

These days Pasterski’s engaged in a little light research, nothing too strenuous:

She and her colleagues are working to unite general relativity, which describes gravity and the macroscopic world, with quantum mechanics, which describes the behavior of subatomic particles. It’s a field of physics research known as quantum gravity.

If Pasterski helps solve this problem that has vexed scientists for decades, the result will be the holy grail of physics: a fundamental theory of nature that characterizes pretty much everything. One day there may be engineering applications. “If you understand how things work,” she says, “you can do things with that knowledge.” But she’s in this to solve an existential puzzle — to reveal what she calls “the source code of the universe.”

If all of this makes you feel rather small, don’t worry: Pasterski “estimates there are probably only a couple of thousand people in the world with whom she can meaningfully converse about her work in physics.” It’s a small club!

She has pushed back against the moniker of “the New Einstein,” however, stating that in her hunt for the universal source code she is just “happy to be a part of this legacy that our field is building.”

Okay but we’re still gonna call you Einstein, lady!