You Are Not Alone OR I Am Here
Applying to graduate school with impostor syndrome
At this time two years ago, I was considering not applying to graduate school. That is not to say I did not want to go to graduate school. On the contrary, the better part of me wanted to go to graduate school to mentor students through teaching and research while earning the qualifications to […]
Introductions
What to do if nothing goes according to plan
As a military brat, growing up was often an exercise in how to exist in the in-between. Moving every two years fostered a patchwork identity that seemed too foreign for anywhere, and so I was content to introduce myself in a brief, adapted way: Hi. I’m Julia, I’ve moved around a lot, but I consider […]
Remember That Undergraduate Internship?
How an unhappy internship experience helped me discover my passion for research
I did not know I was considering graduate school until the beginning of my senior year. During undergrad, I felt like a squirrel in a nut factory jumping at every opportunity that came my way. In the summer of my sophomore year, I began working for a traditional chemical engineering company called Air Products and […]
My Recipe for Getting In
An application assistance program to level the playing field
I had never considered a PhD until late in my undergraduate degree. Most students in my program were either grabbing one-year master’s degrees or becoming entry-level grunts at consumer goods or biomedical device companies. I remember a career fair where I talked to a recent graduate who was working as an entry-level engineer at Proctor […]
From Professional to PhD
The costs and benefits of a substantial career change
A 70 percent cut in pay — that’s what my next career move would cost me. And yet it was an opportunity I knew I couldn’t pass up, and it was possibly the best thing I could for my career. Still, a 70% pay cut would definitely change my idea of a vacation for the […]
