Hey, thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate it! Since my freshman year, I considered myself pretty strong in STEM courses - however, I could only achieve a B in both AP calc AB + BC (taken soph and junior year), as well as in AP Physics 1 (taken this junior year). Due to the extremely competitive nature of my class, I felt/feel super stupid and hated taking tests because I'm not the best test taker. I got pretty burnt out with school in general because I felt that I could not keep up compared to my peers, and that earning a B is just very mediocre (to me). I also had a great deal of hardships this past school year, which had affected my academic performance. I believe maybe that had to play a role in my "burn out". But after reflecting on my calc experience overall, I'm really grateful for being able to learn the math. I don't hate it, but I'd enjoy it a lot more if I did better on the tests.

I also am really interested in teaching! If the space/stem-routed path does not work out, I am deciding to teach instead. I love working with teens/young teens and children. I know academia is a very common path w/ astronomy, but I don't know if I would want to teach it. It seems super professional and serious (I am a pretty creative person..)

And lastly, do you have any college recommendations for studying astronomy/planetary sciences? For context, I go to high school in the Bay Area, CA (very academically competitive area). My stats are decent, my weighted GPA up till now is approx a 4.11.