Hello all! Last blog of the semester here and then it's on to a MUCH needed winter break.
For this blog, I was asked what I would say to myself if I could go back to my first semester at ASU. My answer is really two-fold.
First, I would tell myself not to take any loans. "Stick to grants and find more scholarships, Paul, because you'll eventually have to pay that money back", is the gist of it. I am getting close to graduating, and the thought of having to start payments on my student loan debt is NOT a pleasant one. I might be eating ramen soup and mac & cheese for a few years. SMH.
More importantly, I would tell myself to enjoy college life more! The whole college experience only happens once for most people, so slow down a little and have fun with it. Make time for building relationships with students and faculty. Focus more on making friends! Sure, getting those A's is important to getting ahead and achieving your goals, but 10 years from now that paper and all the stress that went into making it will be forgotten. But the friends you worked hard alongside, who helped you de-stress, who supported you through it all- in 10 years those friends will likely still be there, enriching your life, loving you and making your world better. Don't give up on your academic goals- just make room next to them for other important things. You won't regret it.
That's my blog. Until next time...
Live Long, and Prosper.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
ASU West Blog #2- Interview with Faculty, Dr. Becky Ball
Hello all! Our STEM-TRAIN mentors have asked each of us to submit interview questions to a (beloved) faculty member for insight on the West campus experience. I chose to interview Dr. Becky Ball. She is a soil and senior sustainability scientist whose work focuses on soil biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology.
I have had the great pleasure and luck to work with Dr. Ball, first as a research assistant and then as an NCUIRE Scholar in her laboratory. You can check out more about her and her research here: BallASUBio and on her official blog at BallPolarSoilsBlog. You can also check out some of my previous Blogspots for info on the research projects I did in her lab.
When you come to West, you will undoubtedly have some classes with Dr. Ball. My advice to you? Don't miss any of her classes. They are chock full of important information that WILL be on the exams! But not to worry...as long as you go to class and do the homework, you WILL be successful in her courses. Plus, Dr. Ball is always available to give extra help via e-mail & office hours, and she often stays after class to answer questions. (Also plus, as you'll see below, she has a great sense of humor.)
I know I've mentioned it before, but I will mention it again: One of the best things about West is how accessible and committed to student success the instructors are. Great instructors are the rule, not the exception, here.
Without further blabbering, here's my short interview. Please enjoy.
Paul- What do you like best/worst about being a professor?
Becky Ball- Best: Variety in my days. I decide what I do when I come in to work, and I rarely do the same thing every day. I have a lot of independence (as long as I make sure I meet my responsibilities). I also get to travel a lot and interact with a lot of different types of people. I also like that I get a balance between teaching and research. I like working with students, but I also like going out into the field to explore and ask questions.
Worst: Grading papers and exams. Soooooo monotonous. Unfortunately I can’t assign grades in a class without it.
Why did you decide to enter your field?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian. (Because little girls who like animals grow up to be vets… it’s the only job I knew you could do with critters.) (Ed. note: Dr. Ball is often sardonic. This is an example.) In high school I read a book written by a field biologist who studied tigers in the wild. I decided that I much preferred the idea of studying animals in the wild than sick animals in a clinic with pesky human owners. So I went to college for field biology. I realized that to lead research programs, you need a PhD, so I looked at graduate programs. I had a hard time choosing what I wanted to do, because I liked everything (mammals, insects, geology, chemistry, botany… I liked it all!). I ended up learning about biogeochemistry, which really does use all of those different fields of science. I liked it because I didn’t have to choose just one, but instead get to study the big picture. I learned in grad school that I liked working with students, so I became a professor in biogeochemistry.
What is the most surprising thing about your field to you?
Most people don’t realize the great diversity of science jobs that exist. If you ask kids what you can do with science as a career, they’ll probably tell you “science teacher” or “scientist”. Probably they’re thinking of Beaker from the Muppet Show: a guy with a lab coat, a pocket protector, and no social skills. But there are so many different types of scientists, and way more diversity in jobs than just working in a lab with colored liquid in flasks. If you had told 10-year-old me that one day I’d be studying soil ecology in Antarctica, I would’ve probably peed my pants. I had no clue you could do things like that for a job.
I have had the great pleasure and luck to work with Dr. Ball, first as a research assistant and then as an NCUIRE Scholar in her laboratory. You can check out more about her and her research here: BallASUBio and on her official blog at BallPolarSoilsBlog. You can also check out some of my previous Blogspots for info on the research projects I did in her lab.
When you come to West, you will undoubtedly have some classes with Dr. Ball. My advice to you? Don't miss any of her classes. They are chock full of important information that WILL be on the exams! But not to worry...as long as you go to class and do the homework, you WILL be successful in her courses. Plus, Dr. Ball is always available to give extra help via e-mail & office hours, and she often stays after class to answer questions. (Also plus, as you'll see below, she has a great sense of humor.)
I know I've mentioned it before, but I will mention it again: One of the best things about West is how accessible and committed to student success the instructors are. Great instructors are the rule, not the exception, here.
Without further blabbering, here's my short interview. Please enjoy.
Paul- What do you like best/worst about being a professor?
Becky Ball- Best: Variety in my days. I decide what I do when I come in to work, and I rarely do the same thing every day. I have a lot of independence (as long as I make sure I meet my responsibilities). I also get to travel a lot and interact with a lot of different types of people. I also like that I get a balance between teaching and research. I like working with students, but I also like going out into the field to explore and ask questions.
Worst: Grading papers and exams. Soooooo monotonous. Unfortunately I can’t assign grades in a class without it.
Why did you decide to enter your field?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian. (Because little girls who like animals grow up to be vets… it’s the only job I knew you could do with critters.) (Ed. note: Dr. Ball is often sardonic. This is an example.) In high school I read a book written by a field biologist who studied tigers in the wild. I decided that I much preferred the idea of studying animals in the wild than sick animals in a clinic with pesky human owners. So I went to college for field biology. I realized that to lead research programs, you need a PhD, so I looked at graduate programs. I had a hard time choosing what I wanted to do, because I liked everything (mammals, insects, geology, chemistry, botany… I liked it all!). I ended up learning about biogeochemistry, which really does use all of those different fields of science. I liked it because I didn’t have to choose just one, but instead get to study the big picture. I learned in grad school that I liked working with students, so I became a professor in biogeochemistry.
What is the most surprising thing about your field to you?
Most people don’t realize the great diversity of science jobs that exist. If you ask kids what you can do with science as a career, they’ll probably tell you “science teacher” or “scientist”. Probably they’re thinking of Beaker from the Muppet Show: a guy with a lab coat, a pocket protector, and no social skills. But there are so many different types of scientists, and way more diversity in jobs than just working in a lab with colored liquid in flasks. If you had told 10-year-old me that one day I’d be studying soil ecology in Antarctica, I would’ve probably peed my pants. I had no clue you could do things like that for a job.
Image credit: The Muppets Facebook. Retrieved: October 27, 2018.
Friday, September 28, 2018
TRAIN-STEM Blog, ASU West
Greetings, fellow STEM Scholars!
I transferred to ASU in Fall 2016 from Phoenix College. At the time, I had been in S-STEM for several semesters, but the current TRAIN-STEM partnership had not been developed yet. So, I took a hiatus from the program to work and study with Dr. Becky Ball @ ASU West, first as a research assistant, and then as an NCUIRE Scholar. Later on, Dr. Chapman forged a new partnership with the good folks at ASU West, including Drs. Marshall, Ferry, and Sandrin, and I rejoined the scholarship program, now called TRAIN-STEM.
When I transferred to the west campus from Phoenix College, I was immediately surprised by how available the faculty and school resources were to me. I was expecting a big, busy campus, with huge class sizes and aloof instructors, where I would just get lost in a sea of anonymous faces and possibly have a hard time with getting good grades. What I found was exactly the opposite. The west campus is an intimate, friendly, thriving community of faculty and students, where class sizes tend to be small, instructors greet you by name, and in-person help from the teachers is always available.
This sense of community, and the individual attention from staff, has really helped me thrive academically. And the smaller student body has given me the chance to network more broadly and find opportunities that may not have been available to me at a giant, anonymous campus.
In fact, being on west campus and getting such great support led directly to my current job, which is as a Soil Scientist-Trainee, with the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service. This is a non-competitive internship, which gives me on-the-job training, a paycheck while I am in school, and a guaranteed full-time job when I graduate. It is a great opportunity that I am extremely grateful for, and one which I would never have found had I not chosen to go to ASU West.
If you are currently in TRAIN-STEM and are wondering what it's like here at ASU West, feel free to reach out to me @ PCatteli@asu.edu. I'll be glad to answer any of your questions and connect you with resources on campus.
Until next time... Live Long, and Prosper.
Image source: quotesgram.com 09/28/2018
I transferred to ASU in Fall 2016 from Phoenix College. At the time, I had been in S-STEM for several semesters, but the current TRAIN-STEM partnership had not been developed yet. So, I took a hiatus from the program to work and study with Dr. Becky Ball @ ASU West, first as a research assistant, and then as an NCUIRE Scholar. Later on, Dr. Chapman forged a new partnership with the good folks at ASU West, including Drs. Marshall, Ferry, and Sandrin, and I rejoined the scholarship program, now called TRAIN-STEM.
When I transferred to the west campus from Phoenix College, I was immediately surprised by how available the faculty and school resources were to me. I was expecting a big, busy campus, with huge class sizes and aloof instructors, where I would just get lost in a sea of anonymous faces and possibly have a hard time with getting good grades. What I found was exactly the opposite. The west campus is an intimate, friendly, thriving community of faculty and students, where class sizes tend to be small, instructors greet you by name, and in-person help from the teachers is always available.
This sense of community, and the individual attention from staff, has really helped me thrive academically. And the smaller student body has given me the chance to network more broadly and find opportunities that may not have been available to me at a giant, anonymous campus.
In fact, being on west campus and getting such great support led directly to my current job, which is as a Soil Scientist-Trainee, with the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service. This is a non-competitive internship, which gives me on-the-job training, a paycheck while I am in school, and a guaranteed full-time job when I graduate. It is a great opportunity that I am extremely grateful for, and one which I would never have found had I not chosen to go to ASU West.
If you are currently in TRAIN-STEM and are wondering what it's like here at ASU West, feel free to reach out to me @ PCatteli@asu.edu. I'll be glad to answer any of your questions and connect you with resources on campus.
Until next time... Live Long, and Prosper.
Image source: quotesgram.com 09/28/2018
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