Lately, I've been looking back on the experiences that brought me to the point I am at now - working with LIGO as a scientist. It made me realize that many things happened throughout my education which brought me here today. So, for any readers out there who are thinking of becoming a scientist (not just one for LIGO) here is my advice.
HIGH SCHOOL
The bottom line about the high school experience is to learn as much as you can. It was a little bit disappointing when I got to college that no one cared about what great things I did when I was in high school. Colleges and universities stop caring about things like that once you have gained admission.
Therefore, the most important thing you can do is learn as much about what you want to do as you can. I was lucky to already know what I wanted to do when I was that young, but if you don't that's fine too! Just learn about what interests you the most at that time. It may turn out not to be something you want to do for the rest of your life but you will still have the knowledge you gained which will help you do whatever you end up doing. And you never know - your interests in high school may end up being your calling.
Since I knew that I wanted to be a physicist, I took all of the science that my high school offered me. In the end, I had 1 year of biology, 1 year of chemistry, 2 years of physics, a half year of astronomy, a half year of geology and a half year of ecology. If your high school doesn't offer this range of topics, that's fine! Just learn as much as you can in general.
COLLEGE
In college is where you start to make choices. What do I want to major in? What do I want to do with my degree? Do I want to continue on to grad school for a masters or Ph.D. or do I want to stop with a bachelors degree?
Don't panic! Most colleges do not make you declare a major until the end of your sophomore year BUT some majors require four years worth of coursework. Look at the requirements for the majors you are seriously considering and start taking some of the introductory classes. This will help you figure out if this is something you want to do for a living while making sure that you have some of the course work done if you decide it is (and if it isn't, introductory classes usually count towards your general education requirements).
Once you have decided to be a scientist, you need to think about what kind of scientist you want to be. I'm not talking about subject matter (biologist, chemist, physicist, etc.) but how much education you will need to do the work you are most interested in. This is a good time to seek out your advisor and start telling them about what you want from your education overall, and ask what degree you will need to do that work.
If grad school appears to be in your future, you need to make sure that you get the best grades you can in the classes that are part of your major (and overall too, but a bad grade in economics is easily overlooked when you have good grades in your major field) and gain some form of research experience.
A student who has research experience has an advantage over students who don't when applying to grad schools since research is the largest component to earning a graduate degree. There are many programs out there for you to get this experience over the summer. For example, the NSF gives grants to colleges to have undergraduates work with professors over the summer on their research. This program is called Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU - click here for more info). There are also similar programs out there. Caltech has the SURF program (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) that do a lot of work with LIGO (including at the observatories in Livingston, LA and Hanford, WA) and the University of Florida has an International REU program where you can work on LIGO related research in a different country. (Find out more about these programs on ligo.org here.)
If you are going on to grad school, you will also need to think about what you want to specialize in. Let's say you are finishing your physics bachelors degree. All of your work so far has been very broad and covered the foundations of physics. In grad school, you will specialize in a particular part of physics. I specialized in gravity. Therefore, I am an expert on that subject matter, but if you ask me something about particle physics (like the Large Hadron Collider) I will only be able to tell you very general things about that since I am not an expert. It is a lot like asking your neurologist (brain & spinal cord specialist) about your upset stomach - he knows generalities but you would need to see a different specialist for a deeper answer. Having a good idea of what you want to specialize in will be helpful when applying to grad school so that they admit the right number of people for each specialty. That's not to say that you can't change your mind later, though.
GRAD SCHOOL
Now you have your bachelors degree in hand and you have been accepted to a grad school to work some subfield of your major. Your first year will be filled with very challenging classes that will make you think again about if this is something you REALLY want to do. Don't lose heart! The first year is always the hardest and when you make it through that, it gets much better.
Make sure that you find an advisor to start performing research with. After your first 2 years or so of grad school, the rest of the time you are there will be doing research for your thesis. Many people think that grad school is like signing up for more school like you had from 1st grade through college - classes. Grad school has some of that, but most of it is learning by doing research. Grad school is more like an apprenticeship than "school" as we normally think about it.
Fast-forward a few years. You are finishing your thesis and you are getting ready to finish your masters or Ph.D. What now? Well that depends on what you plan on doing next. Many people with masters degrees go on to work in industry. Most Ph.D.s are planning on going to a position in academia (college/university faculty positions). The interesting thing to consider is that most of these people will end up in industry and that's not a bad thing. For those getting Ph.D.s, they have been guided to this point by other Ph.D.'s who have usually never worked outside of academia. Therefore, they are being guided by people who don't necessarily have the experience to talk about doing anything else with their degree. Surveys have shown that those who move on to industry are just as happy, if not more so, than their classmates who went on to become college faculty.
If you are getting a Ph.D., chances are that you will be doing a postdoctoral (postdoc) appointment next. This is what I am doing right now and it allows to you better establish yourself in your field by doing more independent research and publishing your results.
Regardless, you are a bona fide <whatever it is you majored in>. One of the best but scariest things about my life right now is what lays ahead... Can I find a permanent position where I am (I would love that) or will I have to look elsewhere? Where am I going to end up? I really don't know the answers to these questions (yet) but I do know that I love doing LIGO research and will continue doing that wherever I end up!
Questions?
If you have any questions about becoming a scientist, feel free to contact me. Just leave a comment below or email me at amber@livingligo.org and I will be happy to talk with you!
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Friday, December 10, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
APS Executive Board, Council & Thanksgiving
I hope all my US readers has a nice Thanksgiving holiday! It's been a while since I posted, so let me tell you a little about what I've been doing...
APS Executive Board & Council Meeting
My last post was about how doing professional service was a part of an academic life. That is exactly what I went off to do between 18-19 November at the APS Executive Board and Council Meetings. The first day, I flew out to Long Beach, CA where the meetings were taking place and, in the evening, I went to the Executive Board Dinner. I always like these more informal gatherings since it allows me to learn more about the others and am serving with and I always learn some thing new, be it about physics or some other bit of wisdom.
During the day of the 19th was the Executive Board Meeting and the Budget Committee Meeting. This meeting is where a smaller group of people go into much more detail on topics that will be brought to the Council. Basically, this is where many issues are debated first so that the Council Meetings proceed much more efficiently. This was a full day of meetings for me as the Executive Board Meeting was followed by a meeting of the Budget Committee (on which I also serve). This meeting of the Budget Committee saw the approval of the budget for next year. While I'm not enthralled by accounting, I've learned so much about how a large society like the APS stays afloat.
The evening of the 19th was the usual Council Reception and Dinner. This is just like the Executive Board Reception and Dinner, but we were treated to a special viewing of the Division on Fluid Dynamics' Gallery of Fluids in Motion (the Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting took place starting the day after the Council Meeting). Then we were able to watch the incredible videos illustrating current fluid dynamics research (you can see them too here - you can also find the still images linked from that page). My favorite one was the "Wet-Dog Shake" (found here - find the movie under "Ancillary Files" to the right of the page).
On the 20th was the Council Meeting (where I represent the Forum on Graduate Student Affairs). These meetings are open to the membership and the usual agenda proceeds as follows:
I flew home on the 21st only to ship out again to visit my family for Thanksgiving on the 23rd...
Visit to My High School Alma Mater
Since I went home to visit my family, I contacted my old high school and asked if they would be interested in me coming in and talking to students. They were nice enough to have me (and my husband) and we got to talk to the AP Physics class about what we do at LIGO; I talked about physics and my husband talked about engineering). The most rewarding thing for me was that I was in that class with the same teacher (Hi, Mr. Bowman!) when I went there. And it was there that I first fell in love with Relativity and gravity. So it was great to come back full circle. I also got to give a few copies of the poster I worked on with the APS to them (FYI, I'm not beyond shameless self-promotion.)
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving went about as well as any family gathering goes. It was great to see everyone, but it wasn't without its own stress.
Thanksgiving day was full of baking and cooking and eating :) It was nice to get to see my family - especially my younger siblings!
I also got to have Thanksgiving, Round 2 with my husband's family on Saturday. That's one of the nice things about marrying your high school sweetheart - their family usually lives close to yours and you don't have to chose who to visit on the big holidays. Needless to say, I am very sick of turkey.
That's about all I have to talk about right now. Maybe later I will bore you with a post about catching up on work after a trip out of town :)
APS Executive Board & Council Meeting
My last post was about how doing professional service was a part of an academic life. That is exactly what I went off to do between 18-19 November at the APS Executive Board and Council Meetings. The first day, I flew out to Long Beach, CA where the meetings were taking place and, in the evening, I went to the Executive Board Dinner. I always like these more informal gatherings since it allows me to learn more about the others and am serving with and I always learn some thing new, be it about physics or some other bit of wisdom.
This is the view from my hotel room at the Long Beach Hyatt. This is one of the best views I've ever had.
During the day of the 19th was the Executive Board Meeting and the Budget Committee Meeting. This meeting is where a smaller group of people go into much more detail on topics that will be brought to the Council. Basically, this is where many issues are debated first so that the Council Meetings proceed much more efficiently. This was a full day of meetings for me as the Executive Board Meeting was followed by a meeting of the Budget Committee (on which I also serve). This meeting of the Budget Committee saw the approval of the budget for next year. While I'm not enthralled by accounting, I've learned so much about how a large society like the APS stays afloat.
The evening of the 19th was the usual Council Reception and Dinner. This is just like the Executive Board Reception and Dinner, but we were treated to a special viewing of the Division on Fluid Dynamics' Gallery of Fluids in Motion (the Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting took place starting the day after the Council Meeting). Then we were able to watch the incredible videos illustrating current fluid dynamics research (you can see them too here - you can also find the still images linked from that page). My favorite one was the "Wet-Dog Shake" (found here - find the movie under "Ancillary Files" to the right of the page).
On the 20th was the Council Meeting (where I represent the Forum on Graduate Student Affairs). These meetings are open to the membership and the usual agenda proceeds as follows:
- Approval of Minutes (8:30 AM)
- Report from the President
- Report from the Executive Officer
- Report from the Treasurer/Publisher
- Report from the Editor in Chief
- BREAK (10:10 AM)
- Fellowships
- Panel on Public Affairs
- LUNCH (Noon)
- Report from the Canadian Physical Society
- Report on Education and Diversity
- Report on Outreach
- BREAK (2:10 PM)
- Report on International Affairs
- Report from Washington
- Unit Bylaw Changes
- New Business
- CONCLUDE (3:30 PM)
My place at the APS Council Meeting. Even though this meeting is open to the membership, I didn't want to take a picture of the other Councilors since I didn't have their permission to post their photo on this site.
I flew home on the 21st only to ship out again to visit my family for Thanksgiving on the 23rd...
Visit to My High School Alma Mater
Since I went home to visit my family, I contacted my old high school and asked if they would be interested in me coming in and talking to students. They were nice enough to have me (and my husband) and we got to talk to the AP Physics class about what we do at LIGO; I talked about physics and my husband talked about engineering). The most rewarding thing for me was that I was in that class with the same teacher (Hi, Mr. Bowman!) when I went there. And it was there that I first fell in love with Relativity and gravity. So it was great to come back full circle. I also got to give a few copies of the poster I worked on with the APS to them (FYI, I'm not beyond shameless self-promotion.)
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving went about as well as any family gathering goes. It was great to see everyone, but it wasn't without its own stress.
Thanksgiving day was full of baking and cooking and eating :) It was nice to get to see my family - especially my younger siblings!
I also got to have Thanksgiving, Round 2 with my husband's family on Saturday. That's one of the nice things about marrying your high school sweetheart - their family usually lives close to yours and you don't have to chose who to visit on the big holidays. Needless to say, I am very sick of turkey.
That's about all I have to talk about right now. Maybe later I will bore you with a post about catching up on work after a trip out of town :)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Origin Story
One of the things that I'm surprised scientists don't talk about more is why/how they became what they are. The feeling I get from others is that we've each had a 'calling' that led us to where we are and we just accept it as that. Or perhaps it is that many scientists don't have the best interpersonal skills and discussing something this personal may be uncomfortable. I really don't know. But when I have gotten colleagues to discuss the matter, the stories I've heard are varied and compelling. So, here's my origin story...
I grew up in Western Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh. Way outside and mostly in rural areas and then later in suburban areas. I have always 'known' on some level of what I wanted to be and it centered around science and space. As a child, the hero job that fit the bill was astronaut. Later, I discovered that there are many careers in science and decided that astronomer was much closer to my aspirations. I was fortunate enough to get a first class science education at my high school and took 2 years of physics, 1 year each of biology and chemistry and took a semester each of astronomy, geology and ecology. It was my physics teacher (the same for both years) that first exposed me to relativity and that is when I was hooked! It was mind blowing learning how time is not constant nor is length or mass for that matter! I didn't know exactly how I was going to use this, but I knew that this is something I wanted to pursue.
Then came college. I knew that I wanted to go on to graduate study, so most of my time in college I spent trying to excel in the physics major hoping for acceptance into a respected doctoral program. I went to Frostburg State University and graduated early. While there wasn't much to do as an undergraduate in relativity, I focused my attention on astronomy and was able to perform independent study in astrophotography.
When looking for graduate schools, I wanted to choose a research project that would allow me to work in both astronomy and relativity. I was admitted to Penn State and started work on the LIGO project. And today I work at one of the 2 LIGO sites.
While I feel like I've been privileged to always have a sense of direction as far as my career is concerned, I was not so focused academically. I was a horrible student! Sometimes when I work with visiting school groups to the observatory, I am asked if I really am a scientist and if I'm a genius. Yes, I am a real scientist but I am far from a genius! I had difficulty all though school and only started to find my academic focus once I was in high school. (One marking period in 4th grade, I received 4 F's on my report and they wanted to put me back in 3rd grade.) Establishing yourself as a scientist doesn't mean that science has to come easy to you - all you need to do is be persistent in learning the material and scientific methods. Even in college and grad school, I struggled and it just took hard work and persistence to get through it. Now that I am done with school, there is still no end to the struggle - but it is a struggle that I enjoy and the rewards are worth much more than the costs.
Are you a scientist and want to share your origin story? Feel free to leave a comment! Are you a student and think that you would like to be a scientist? Please leave a comment with your plans!
A special thanks goes out to: Mr. R. C. Bowman of Hempfield Area High School for exposing me to Relativity for the first time, to Dr. George Plitnik and Dr. Greg Latta for guiding me through college and to Dr.s Gabriela Gonzalez and Sam Finn for seeing me through grad school and establishing me in LIGO!
I grew up in Western Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh. Way outside and mostly in rural areas and then later in suburban areas. I have always 'known' on some level of what I wanted to be and it centered around science and space. As a child, the hero job that fit the bill was astronaut. Later, I discovered that there are many careers in science and decided that astronomer was much closer to my aspirations. I was fortunate enough to get a first class science education at my high school and took 2 years of physics, 1 year each of biology and chemistry and took a semester each of astronomy, geology and ecology. It was my physics teacher (the same for both years) that first exposed me to relativity and that is when I was hooked! It was mind blowing learning how time is not constant nor is length or mass for that matter! I didn't know exactly how I was going to use this, but I knew that this is something I wanted to pursue.
Then came college. I knew that I wanted to go on to graduate study, so most of my time in college I spent trying to excel in the physics major hoping for acceptance into a respected doctoral program. I went to Frostburg State University and graduated early. While there wasn't much to do as an undergraduate in relativity, I focused my attention on astronomy and was able to perform independent study in astrophotography.
When looking for graduate schools, I wanted to choose a research project that would allow me to work in both astronomy and relativity. I was admitted to Penn State and started work on the LIGO project. And today I work at one of the 2 LIGO sites.
While I feel like I've been privileged to always have a sense of direction as far as my career is concerned, I was not so focused academically. I was a horrible student! Sometimes when I work with visiting school groups to the observatory, I am asked if I really am a scientist and if I'm a genius. Yes, I am a real scientist but I am far from a genius! I had difficulty all though school and only started to find my academic focus once I was in high school. (One marking period in 4th grade, I received 4 F's on my report and they wanted to put me back in 3rd grade.) Establishing yourself as a scientist doesn't mean that science has to come easy to you - all you need to do is be persistent in learning the material and scientific methods. Even in college and grad school, I struggled and it just took hard work and persistence to get through it. Now that I am done with school, there is still no end to the struggle - but it is a struggle that I enjoy and the rewards are worth much more than the costs.
Are you a scientist and want to share your origin story? Feel free to leave a comment! Are you a student and think that you would like to be a scientist? Please leave a comment with your plans!
A special thanks goes out to: Mr. R. C. Bowman of Hempfield Area High School for exposing me to Relativity for the first time, to Dr. George Plitnik and Dr. Greg Latta for guiding me through college and to Dr.s Gabriela Gonzalez and Sam Finn for seeing me through grad school and establishing me in LIGO!
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