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A P R I L
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EMERGING PROFESSIONALS
EMERGING
PROFESSIONALS
Getting through Grad School
Rachael Stewart, Colorado School of Mines
Choose grad school. Choose
a high-ranking program with
a credo of hard work. Choose
knowledge doses in neat 50-
minute lecture packets. Choose
weekend TA duties and grim
homeworks.
Choose
reading
papers and studying for qualify-
ing exams until 4:00 a.m. Choose
stress, caffeine, and alcohol.
Choose an eccentric adviser with a
high
h
-index and mismatched socks. Choose student loans
and $2 burrito Wednesdays. Choose a novel thesis and
discover why no one has published on the topic. Choose
unexpected delays, broken equipment, and funding battles.
Choose corrections and figure formatting. Choose graduat-
ing and returning to work.
But why choose grad school at all? I chose it for the
same reasons I chose engineering—to understand how and
why things work. Hard things are what I like best, but grad
school caught me off guard.
At first, the stress was crippling. The unexpected men-
tal challenge was humbling. Constant evaluation made
it difficult to separate my grades from my self-worth. In
industry, communication rather than technical skills were
primarily required. I had operated in third gear. Grad school
pushed me into sixth gear. I slept six hours a night, forwent
all exercise, ceased all social interaction, and spent every
available minute studying. Finally, lonely, exhausted, and
ready to quit, I sought help. I turned to classmates and
found they shared my struggles. We helped each other, cre-
ating new ideas and avoiding mistakes. And I found a men-
tor who helped me set realistic expectations. What is good
practice in industry may not equally apply in school.
Coursework is one degree component; a successful
thesis is another. The third does not appear on transcripts.
Grad school is more than just advanced technical training—
it grew me in many unexpected ways. I discovered a sixth
gear and acquired the skills to perform effectively. Prioriti-
zation, discipline, and stress management allied with peer
support and mentorship were keys to success, while physi-
cal activity provided balance.
A year ago, I quit my job, left my country, and returned
to school. Were I to retake my decision, I would make it the
same, and choose grad school.
CHAPTERS IN THE NEWS
Los Angeles, Orange Coast Host Chong
The Los Angeles and Orange
Coast Chapters held a joint meet-
ing in January featuring Dianne
Chong, FASM, retired vice pres-
ident of Boeing and ASM past
president, who spoke about the
history of materials in aerospace.
Stewart
Students from the UC Riverside Materials Advantage Chapter.
Dianne Chong and Amirhossein Kha-
lajhedayati, Orange Coast Chair.
Northwestern PA Holds Student Night
The Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter recently held
a successful student night at Penn State Behrend. The event
featured Yustianto Tjiptowidojojo, a lecturer in the mechan-
ical engineering department, giving a talk titled, “Predicting
Damage in Mechanical Components.”
From left, Chetan Nikhare and WilliamBennett present an ASM
gift set to Yustianto Tjiptowidojojo.