What makes you like particle physics?

I’m not a physicist, not even a student, only immensely interested in and passionate about everything that’s connected to the little particles :) For me, the reason particles in particular (pun intended) are fascinating to me is probably because some kind of core personality trait in my brain must have activated and formed when I played Half-Life for the first time as an 11 year old.

Since then, it has been one of my favourite things about the universe. Everything is so small but so important! Literally fundamental! There is something poetic about the elementary particles and the four fundamental forces being governed by some of them. Invisible little things that determine the laws of physics and keep the universe in balance, holding together the fabric of space and time itself. It’s the mystery, the inconcievably small scale, and yet their immense role in everything.

So what makes you love particle physics in particular? What about it draws you in? If you’re a student or a physicist, what made you choose this field before any others?