Growing up in Colorado, Andy Boyle spent summers camping in the mountains with his cross-country teammates. He gazed at the night sky, staring in wonder at the twinkling stars. As an undergraduate at the University of Colorado Boulder, he took astronomy classes and resolved to pursue a career in the field — but the journey wasn’t easy. Boyle applied to graduate programs for years before he found one that accepted him. At one point, an adviser suggested he pursue a different field.