Career Roadmap
QuynhGiao N.'s work combines: Engineering, Science, and Problem Solving
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Diploma
Bachelor's Degree
Chemistry, General
Notre Dame College
Graduate Degree
Chemistry, General
Cleveland State University
Doctorate
Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs
Cleveland State University
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Materials Scientists:
High School
Bachelor's Degree: Birthing and Parenting Knowledge and Skills
Graduate Degree: Materials Chemistry
Doctorate: Materials Chemistry
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
As an undergraduate, I found a mentor who worked at NASA in the field of materials engineering.
2.
I was able to observe his work and started to think about it as profession and then pursued it.
3.
During my first year of graduate school at Cleveland State, I was assigned an advisor.
4.
My advisor ended up being a physical chemist, which was a field I was already interested in.
5.
From there, it was up to me to figure out which specialized field I wanted to pursue.
6.
I got an amazing opportunity from NASA, which was a full-time job offer while in graduate school.
7.
I finished my MS and accepted the job offer. It took longer than my original goal to finish my PhD.
8.
I've been blessed. Working hard, being open to opportunities & challenges allowed for more choices.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
Go back to your own country. You're stupid. You don't have to be smart to be successful.
How I responded:
As a refugee and non-English-speaking child, I remember looking around and hearing all of these people with perfect American-English accents. I wanted to fit in, so I developed the goal of learning how to speak English perfectly as well. I can't believe I had that goal at age eight, but I put everything I had into reaching it...and I did! One goal at a time. Sometimes you have to remove yourself from noise that is toxic, sometimes you can also overcome noise through hard work.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I immigrated to the U.S. when I was seven years old.
I came to this country with out knowing how to speak English, so I spent 3 years in summer school, and started out in remedial reading. But I made it my goal to speak perfect English, and by the time I was in high school, I was in AP English.
First in my family with a Ph.D. Although, my dad did beat me by getting his master's in mathematics before I finished my master's in chemistry.