Today, we have a guest blog article by Dr Priyanka Mishra who has a PhD in neuroscience and she shared her inspiring, and non-linear, route into STEM. Thank you Dr Mishra for your telling us your fascinating experiences.
An aspiration for a career in science moved me from my home base in India to Canada and eventually to the United States to better myself. With the education and experience I have accumulated, I learned to navigate the complexities of the academic environment as a woman in STEM. Throughout all of these challenges, I questioned whether there was a place for me in academic culture. These professional challenges are a priority for me, in part, because they are personal too. Despite battling obstacles and odds, coming from an underprivileged background, I never stopped until I couldn't move anymore. Besides the long journey it was, it also shaped my outlook throughout. I conditioned myself and am accountable for this commitment. I’m not afraid to share my back story as I don’t know if that could be the key to unlock someone’s future.
From the beginning, science was my sole career aim. This inspiration originated through my immediate and extended family, highly educated professionals in STEM. Though getting a degree in medicine wasn’t an option to pick, given my below-average brilliance in school and personal hardships together. Until high school, I hardly managed to gain passing marks but that didn’t decide what I wanted from my life. Life is much more than just numbers. Somewhere I read: "Let results be an opportunity for introspection and not for criticism." That is where I see value in getting coached by my instinct. The ability of my spirit, perseverance, and courage is something that no situation can steal away. I cultivated myself to become a reliable scholar and prolong my career rather than burning out quickly. It was wonderful to see my science career grow over the years.
As high school science graduates, we are unsure about what career paths are open to us, how can we leverage our elementary education to find success in careers that requires identifying and articulating our skills, and value as a STEM professional. Our mentors pushed our noses to the grindstone so that we could excel in our discipline and we spend years working to achieve it. While not discounting the worthiness of that goal, self-reflection is vital in choosing a career path. It requires strategies to cultivate our next destination. Nothing comes served on a platter, it’s we who decorate it. Until I reached university, I had no clear vision of what I would be doing down the path. I knew I desired to do a PhD, but I was quite directionless. Never a rebel, but rather a dreamer. During my bachelor's, I started developing a natural curiosity in Biology and dived into it because that’s somewhere I feel at ease, something that was responding to my internal voice and I thought that maybe that’s something I should be doing. Having a bachelors and masters in science, often my students ask me how I chose my school. Well, back then, I wasn’t privileged in this way. But today I’ve many pitches at my disposal. Exercise in discovering your interest. There are utter challenges, but that's what life is for - win over the challenges. Go through the assessments to decide your best scope. Some of the little things that make a big difference are, being open to learning from every mind, talking at meetings, and network among our peers, practicing discipline, pro-activeness, and dedication towards our responsibilities. It matters how you get influenced by the activities in your sphere. I take the positive from everyone, and this has always helped me be more employable. Don't be shy to learn at any level in your career. And be always confident in presenting yourself. No one is born with all the knowledge. I hope my experience could contribute to a portion to your success.
After becoming a university graduate, I went on to take jobs that were not on my radar. One who’s struggled to even survive through the day at one point won’t be deterred by anything when it comes to accepting, because I’ve seen far worse. Finding a job in the core endeavor isn’t easy. We have to expand our search beyond what we are. Yes, fear is always there especially when you are in your early career stage. A myriad of questions bang your head. Managing to fulfill obligations for school or work while making sure our personal relationships and own physical/emotional/mental health is taken care of. While I wonder, there is no organic level of judgment. I just try to put in the best effort I could in going through the state. Spilling my own experiences, I have always been quite tensed and proactive about the future. But dealt with them maturely. I never let the situation overwhelm me. There were peoples around me, my mentors, parents, and friends to share and guide on my decisions and I respect every individual opinion. It utterly helped me a proportion and strengthened my decision-making ability and motivated my plans. Today, holding a PhD in biological sciences opens my job prospects in many ways both in academia and industry. The job I’ve now is close to the one I’ve envisioned myself with a doctoral degree. As an undergrad, I would not have been able to secure this position at higher academic organizations that require a certain level of education. With involvement, I recognized that we gain many skills and expertise just by working rather than through a formal degree. I feel so content in sharing my experiences. Currently, I'm a neuroscientist, a subject in which I gained no major formal training, dived into from Biology to Immunology to Neuroscience research, ultimately into the field of my vision just by connecting dots of my research attention on the go. I acquired those many skills by self-tutoring as the problem appeared to me and this opened several new avenues to compete, switching careers by transitioning into industries and discovering the right opportunity.
Looking back, what I would’ve done differently is being strategic earlier. There is always room to count.
Also, if you get some spare time, would you like to read this blog: https://medium.com/@priyankamishra62/every-challenge-is-a-new-opportunity-to-the-next-door-and-i-unveiled-it-enthusiastically-aab6a38a0b6a. I hope this read could ease most of your fears toward a career in science. I would love to hear your thoughts back, and always feel free to reach out to priyankamishra62@gmail.com for any reservations you sense in your career!