I am starting my third year as a Ph.D. student in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department at Harvard University. I currently study fish biomechanics in the Lauder Lab, specifically looking how different various axial elements (vertebral column, notochord, median fins) contribute to locomotion in a diverse set of species. My work involves everything from live animal experimentation to robotics, integrating and building off the bulk of what I learned at GT.
After graduation (in 3-4 years), I’d like to continue in academia. However, my time at Georgia Tech taught me to be flexible with my plans, as what I set out to do rarely ever culminated in a way that I was expecting. Had I not been flexible with my graduation timeline, I wouldn’t have had the time to become a double major in Biology and Physics, pursing research interests in both departments. I also wouldn’t have taken nearly an entire semester off just so I could do field research in Antarctica for five weeks. There are so many amazing opportunities available to GT students, many of which can take you by surprise. It pays to be flexible at Georgia Tech.
I have two main pieces of advice, in addition to being flexible. First, find time outside of the classroom to get to know the professors in your department. Some of my most meaningful relationships with professors developed not through office hours, but through late-night discussions about comic books in the building kitchen, or talking about the science behind study methods while grabbing coffee. I wouldn’t be where I am now if one of those professors hadn’t persuaded me into writing a grant proposal during my senior year. That proposal is how I found the Lauder Lab.
Next, Georgia Tech has a reputation for being a tough school. You’ll spend a lot of long hours reading, studying, and researching, such that nearly anything you could choose to pursue after graduation will seem easy in comparison. But it is easy to get mired down, and so my second piece of advice is to purposefully schedule something fun in your life, whether it is taking a class simply because you find the topic absolutely fascinating, or joining one of the many clubs at GT (I personally recommend ORGT). Georgia Tech can be an incredibly fun place to do your undergrad degree, but sometimes you’ll need to go in search of the fun, rather than wait for it to find you.
