Love The Path You Travel

Jessica Rauchut – Research Associate at Penn State Hershey Medical School

 || At 22, many of us are graduating, starting new jobs, becoming doctors, getting married, or having kids, while the rest of us are still trying to figure out how life works. Now, I wouldn’t describe myself as “lost,” per se, but I definitely knew I wasn’t ready for my PhD. So let’s backtrack a little.

Growing up, I was always the girl who loved math and science; so going in to a STEM field was always a no-brainer. Throughout high school I took many different science electives. The problem was, I liked them all. It wasn’t until I read the book, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, where I truly found my interest. For those of you that never read the book, it’s about the Ebola outbreaks in the late 80s early 90s and I highly recommend it. To speed things up, this book led me to plan my undergrad major, minor, internships, and future plans to earn my PhD all before even starting my undergrad!

I had everything planned out. It wasn’t until my senior year of my undergrad where I came to this sudden realization that I was not ready for a PhD. There was still so much I wanted to do and learn! I know what you’re thinking, “you learn during your PhD.” I know this, but what I realized was that I would become so specialized in a topic, it would be hard to switch if I decided to take my research into a different field. Consequently, I applied for Masters programs in biotechnology (to keep it broad, but still informative) and picked up a research tech job in a cancer research lab.

You have the rest of your life to work, so don’t be afraid to spend half of it learning about the things you love!

Now, I am currently working as a research associate while I finish up my Masters degree before pursuing my PhD. Every day I wake up thinking how happy I am that I can still change jobs and fields so easily. I always thought it would be best to plan ahead and make a set path. I thought at 18 I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but in reality, you don’t know anything. Everyone was always telling me that you want to complete school fast, get a job, and start a family. I thought that’s what I was supposed to do, but everyone has his or her own path. You have the rest of your life to work, so don’t be afraid to spend half of it learning about the things you love! Find your passion, find what works, and love the life you live.

Feature Image of Gatineau Park by Peter de Wit | Photo is unedited. | Some rights reserved

Civic Science Media Lab

CSML's mission is to document the diverse practices of civic science to inform, educate, and inspire current and the next generation of practitioners in the field, and the broader publics. Through the practice of ethnographic civic science journalism, the lab offers practitioners a sandbox for experimentation—using video, digital publishing, and audio—to surface and make sense of the knowledge, lived experiences, behaviors, motivations, and responsibilities that shape civic science.