I’m a nerd. I like video games and music, and I like science and numbers. It’s what I do and what I’m passionate about.

A lot of people will tell you music elicits certain emotions. It’s different for me. My brain works in numbers, and that’s how I see music. Arranging musical notes in an intentional way, it just activates the reward centers of the brain in a satisfying way. It’s like drugs for the ears.

How I got my start in music is a cool story. I grew up playing a lot of video games, like tens of thousands of hours of video games. One that I really got into when I was in high school was Guitar Hero. They had a global ranking system, and at one point I was ranked seventh in the world.

I was so proud of this, and I told my dad one day about the ranking. His response was, “Get rid of that game, and I’ll buy you a real guitar.”

That was his way of encouraging something I was clearly passionate about.

I got rid of the game and, as Dad promised, he bought me a guitar. Shortly after that, I went to a Metallica show. Some friends and I, having no idea what we were doing, decided to start a band. And that’s how I got into playing guitar.

I went to SUNY Plattsburgh as a chemistry major, but music remained a big part of my life and my studies. While learning chemistry, math and physics, I also took every music class I could. I performed guitar in an ensemble, played piano all the time and sang. I ended up with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and one class short of a degree in music.

While the laboratory is my life’s work, performing, writing and producing music is my life’s love.

Dylan Arquette, a lab assistant, has been with us for five years.