College student is already a super star
Kayden Ozdemir in Ireland, on the Cliffs of Moher, in November 2023.
At just 19 years old, Kayden Ozdemir is on the road to success and already has a formidable resume. Currently studying astrophysics with a double major in business management and economics at the University of California-Santa Cruz (UCSC), Kayden graduated from Rock Canyon High School (RCHS) in 2024 with highest honors and is one of only 50 students selected for the Regents Scholarship by the University of California.
“I place success on the environment I was able to surround myself in,” said Kayden. “I’m very much a believer in the ‘iron sharpens iron’ mindset and my peers were some of the sharpest people imaginable.”
Growing up in the Forest Park neighborhood, Kayden and his mother Jamie moved from California when Jamie said she was looking to slow down and move away from the hustle and “grinding portion” of her earlier career.
Since returning to California, Kayden is beginning the grinding portion of his own early career. For two previous summers, he has held an internship at an aerospace startup called True Anomaly and continues the work remotely today as a software engineer. Kayden also works as a research assistant in UCSC’s Center for Adaptive Optics where he is a lead for the thrust vector control project on UCSC’s Rocket Team; additionally, he is co-founding an AI startup with some graduate students. This summer, Kayden landed an internship with the United States Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, which primarily consists of tracking and identifying malicious orbiting objects that could be disruptive to other orbiting objects, such as GPS satellites.
Kayden stressed that his academic achievements did not always come easily and that he was a C student in middle school. A visit to MIT in eighth grade helped him change course. “The time to fail in life is now, and there’s no better time to pursue anything you’ve ever wanted than in this very moment,” Kayden said when asked to share advice with younger students. “There’s a large amount of unrecognized potential out there for all of us.”
When not in meetings or classes, Kayden enjoys climbing, running, rowing and swimming and is considering competing in a HYROX fitness competition and Ironman Triathlon.
While Kayden does not plan to move back to Colorado immediately after college, he does envision himself returning later in life. When asked what he loves about Castle Pines, he replied, “the sunsets on top of Daniels Park, or driving the dirt road on Grigs.” Kayden also likes to fly fish, dirt bike, rock climb and camp in the Sedalia area.
Kayden Ozdemir at the University of Denver for RCHS graduation on May 24, 2024.
Kayden Ozdemir (left rear) and the UCSC Rocket Team at their test launch in Stockton, California on February 24.
By Sara Goodwin; photos courtesy of Kayden Ozdemir
