![Grade 11 students participating in the University of Windsor's Science Academy examine a jar containing the invasive spiny water fleas during a tour of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Grade 11 students participating in the University of Windsor's Science Academy examine a jar containing the invasive spiny water fleas during a tour of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research on Wednesday, July 11, 2018.](http://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/philosophy/sites/uwindsor.ca.dailynews/files/styles/full/public/scienceacademy-2.jpg?itok=lK2bXBkp)
Carefully tucked away in Layale Bazzi’s academic portfolio sits a certificate she received in Grade 11.
This certificate, while not her most notable accomplishment, represents a moment that forever influenced her academic career.
“When I first saw the University of Windsor’s department of physics in all its glory and met some of the students in the physics club at the time, it was like a whole new world opened up to me,” Bazzi said on Tuesday.