I’m not sure what shape my career trajectory has taken, but right now it doesn’t seem parabolic. I haven’t landed on the ground since launching myself into the world of physics and astronomy back in 2007. I’ll try my best to be brief, and share how I got where I am and where I am going.

The Early Years

In high school I was the epitome of someone who didn’t think they were a “math and person” simply because I found them to be more difficult than my other classes. However, I took all the math and science and honors courses I could, and made all As and Bs-I’m a solid B+/A- student! I even dual-enrolled my senior year of high school. This allowed me to enter college with a full year under my belt without having to take a single AP exam. #LifeHack

I didn’t know what I wanted to study in college so I declared my major as Economics and figured I’d try to get into the prestigious Business program at the University of Georgia where I was enrolled. I signed up for Econ 101, but I also needed to take a physical science class-yuck! My dad told me he thought I should take astronomy because he liked it in college himself. I kept calling the class astrology, and figured I would get this one science class out of the way, and be done with it.

Well it turns out I am no good at economics, and I’m not half bad at science.

The Graduate Years

I finished my bachelor’s degree in 2011-cum laude might I add. I still wasn’t sure what I was doing with my life, but my professors had told me to go to graduate school, so I did. I think I applied to 14 PhD programs and didn’t get into a single one. I last minute applied to the Northern Arizona University Applied Physics master’s program-and I got in!

I love Flagstaff endlessly, and I loved my two years in the program. I graduated in 2013 with distinction. I knew this was the life for me, and I applied to PhD programs again. I also wanted to return to my home state, so I only applied to two programs: Northern Arizona and Georgia State. I got into GSU and back east I went!

Almost immediately I realized I didn’t want to be in academia. My mom got sick, and it made me face her mortality and mine. Was I really going to stay in school until I was THIRTY? I decided to try to become a teacher. I took the GACE (Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators) Mathematics I & II tests, and aced them in the summer after my first year of the PhD program. The GACE is like the GRE for becoming a certified educator in Georgia.

I was at a crossroads.

With a lot of encouragement from my family I decided to stay in the PhD program and see what happened.

The Industry Years

I stayed in the PhD program and graduated in 2018 with a 3.77 GPA. I also collected the Outstanding Teaching Assistant and Outstanding Senior Graduate Student Award along the way. And, yes, I stayed in school until I was 30.

The summer before I finished my dissertation I started working part time at a start up doing data science work. I made good money and realized now THIS is the life for me, and decided to not pursue the post-doc I’d been working towards.

I worked at that company for a year. Another start-up for 5 years. And a third start up for… 11 months.

The Lay Off

Now here I am, I got laid off from my job in June 2024, and I once again find myself at a crossroads.

I’ve been applying to jobs, but when I got pretty far in the process with one position and lost the opportunity to AI… I decided this is not the life for me. I am worried about what AI is doing to the tech industry, and if this is my exit ramp I am going to take it.

What’s Next?

A few weeks ago I got the real desire to start teaching again. I taught labs at GSU-hence the outstanding TA award. My husband and I also realize we need to move closer to family for our daughter’s sake, and end our time out west.

Could I pick back up that dream of becoming an educator in Georgia?

I had totally forgotten about that dream, if I’m honest. I’ve been so blinded by money for the last 6 years that I lost sight of my real love: physics and astronomy.

I looked into what it takes to become a teacher in Georgia. I found I needed to take the GACE before I can enroll in an alternative teaching certification program called TAPP-that’s a program where you earn your certificate while you teach. The program is available to folks who have at least a bachelors in the subject matter and pass the relevant GACE tests.

I tried creating the necessary GACE accounts and found.. I already had one? It all came flooding back to me. That crossroads in 2014. The Math GACE. The TAPP. I discovered my Math scores are still valid! Seeing those old scores was like finding a letter from my past self. It reminded me of who I wanted to be before I got swept up in the allure of tech.

So here I am, I’ve put all my eggs in the teaching basket, and I’m studying to take the Physics GACE in June. As I study for the test, all my memories and love for physics are taking over my brain. When did I become good at this!? It must have been somewhere along the way earning my PhD.

I am excited about this crossroads. I know I’ll never make tech industry money again. But if I can help just one kid discover their own potential, the way I stumbled upon mine, then this journey—twists, turns, and all—will have been worth it.