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When Cal gymnast Sofie Seilnacht says she wants to win the Nobel Prize, she doesn't do so in a boastful way. But she also doesn't act as though it's some unreachable pipedream.
 
Like the true scientist that she is, Seilnacht gives a well-reasoned, pragmatic explanation why it could be a realistic goal for her.
 
"People who figure out exactly what dark matter and dark energy is – that's where the Nobel Prize comes from," Seilnacht said. "That's my goal. It would take a lot of work. It's not an easy subject to study and not always easy for me. But I just enjoy it so much that I still do it."
 
As an astrophysics major, Seilnacht is studying the physics of everything beyond the Earth. The mission of the astrophysicist is to obtain a better understanding of the universe.
 
The prevailing consensus is much of the universe is made up of dark matter, which has yet to be directly observed by scientists, but it is widely believed to play a big part in the structure of the universe. Scientists also believe in the force of dark energy, which is thought to be responsible for the expansion of the universe.
 
It is the unknown component of dark matter and dark energy that fascinates Seilnacht the most.
 
"The prospect of figuring out something that's not really known to many people is really cool," Seilnacht said. "When I committed to Cal, I thought I'm going to do astrophysics."
 
Seilnacht's interest in the universe and the unknown started at an early age when she and her twin sister, Sylvie, also a Cal gymnast, would sit down and watch science shows on television hosted by renowned physicist Michio Kaku. Seilnacht's father, Michael, who earned his physics degree from Cal, introduced the shows to his daughters with the hope of tearing down any potential barriers regarding women in science.
 
Sofie was immediately hooked and trips to the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland just furthered her fascination of the universe and its unknown components.
 
"When I started watching the shows, I was super interested," said Seilnacht, who hails from nearby Fremont. "I started talking to my dad about it, and we would have these long conversations about it."
 
Michael Seilnacht didn't know his daughter would end up having her sights set so high, but he did want to make sure everyone in his family was always mindful of learning. That brought about a rule at the dinner table – if his daughters weren't able to tell him one thing they had learned at school that day, they were required to immediately go online and come back with some new knowledge.
 
"Typically, they've learned something every day but don't pay attention to it," Michael Seilnacht said. "I didn't want them to waste a day."
 
Sylvie Seilnacht, who is also a self-proclaimed scientist but says she focuses more on human influences than her sister, said they typically came back to the dinner table with different types of new knowledge.
 
"I'd get really annoyed," Sylvie said. "I think the go-to for me was dictionary.com. Sofie came back with more science stuff."
 
The focus on the sciences clearly wasn't a waste in the Seilnacht household. Along with Sofie's academic pursuits, Sylvie is a public health major who is interested in molecular biology research. Older sister, Annika, went on to become a high school science teacher.
 
"We both took physics in high school, but my teacher was actually an astrophysicist, so we could kind of debate because I would get stuff from my teacher and she would have stuff from what she found online," Sylvie Seilnacht said. "She would talk to me about the universe and expansion theory. I couldn't tell you what that is."
 
The combination of gymnastics and academics clearly consumes most of Seilnacht's existence at Berkeley, but the intersection of the two began much earlier. Making the drive back home from the California Gymnastics Academy in Livermore as a youth with her sister and mom, Carmela, Seilnacht spent many nights gazing up at the stars as the car traveled through the coastal foothills.
 
"Whenever I'd drive back home from the gym at night through the Livermore hills, it was really nice and I'd roll down the sun roof and just watch the stars," she said. "First of all, the beauty is amazing. Second of all, these stars are thousands and thousands and thousands of light years away, and I can still see them. If space is that far, imagine what else is out there."
 
It was on one of those evening return trips home that Seilnacht and her sister secured their future as Golden Bears. While making the drive, Carmela informed Sofie and Sylvie that Cal associate head coach Liz Crandall-Howell asked that they place a call to her that night.
 
"We called and she said she'd like to offer us a spot on the team," Seilnacht said. "I said yes right away. I was really aiming for Cal because it's the best. I just couldn't see myself going to any other school."
 
Seilnacht and her sister had received offers from other schools, but given Sofie's academic goals, choosing Cal was a no-brainer. Attending a university where there are parking spots reserved for Nobel Prize winners figured to be the most attractive fit for her.
 
"I was really aiming for Cal because it's the best," Seilnacht said. "I knew what I wanted to do, and the astronomy department offers astrophysics as a major. My backup would have been regular physics, or I could double-major. Cal was just the right place for me."
 
Seilnacht plans on attending graduate school after earning her degree from Cal and her ultimate goal is to become a researcher for NASA. It is that research that she hopes will lead her to the top of the science world someday.