What made you decide to get a graduate degree?

I always knew that I wanted to specialize in something, and as I progressed through undergrad, I learned a grad degree would help me do just that. Especially with aerospace engineering being such a technically diverse field and my interests being so specific to structures, a graduate degree has really helped hone my skills into an array of tools I’d use in my career. 

Why Illinois?

I really loved my undergraduate time at Illinois, and because of that I never really even considered going elsewhere. I was able to build such a community here at UIUC during my undergrad, and because of that I knew I wanted to come back for grad.

What helped you choose your specialty?

During my undergrad, I did a co-op working structural dynamics and test for fighter jet components. I personally learned so much about structural mechanics and also engineering as a whole during that experience, and when I went back to school I found that the structures courses were also the ones I enjoyed the most.

Since then, every class I’ve taken and internship I’ve done has reaffirmed that my heart really lies in structural mechanics and dynamics for aerospace applications. This also led me to reapply to the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Illinois for my MS after I finished my BS.

Did you have any internships during your graduate program? 

I didn’t intern during my graduate program, but I did intern directly before. The summer between graduating undergrad and starting grad, I interned with Boeing as a Manufacturing Engineering intern at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, working assembly planning and building for the SLS rocket structural upper stage.

After graduation, I’ll be returning to Boeing, working as a manufacturing engineer on the upper stage of the SLS rocket for Artemis missions.

What activities do you enjoy doing outside of class?

In my free time, I love to go for walks outside (just anything really relating to being outdoors) and listen to music. I also love to play Dominion, a strategy deck-building game, and experiment with cooking different fusion cuisines. For personal growth and to give back to the community, I like to volunteer with outreach programs and teach K-12 students all things STEM.

What are your career goals?

My overall goal is to work in the human spaceflight industry and have an impact in expanding the knowledge we as a species have of this universe we live in. Another fundamental goal for me is to do all I can to diversify the aerospace engineering field as a whole, as well as educate and inspire the next generation to reach for the stars.

 What's on your bucket list for the next 5 years?

I absolutely want to watch an Artemis launch, specifically the one I have worked on. I would also love to work on as many space programs as possible, in as wide array of applications as possible as well (biological, climate, robotic, etc.).

What advice would you share with someone considering an advanced degree?

I highly suggest getting to know your peers. Everyone comes from a different background, so it’s very neat to just hear everyone’s stories and journeys. Forming that connection with your peers is also a great way to form study groups, which does help immensely in academics as well as with social lives. Also, as classes and research get difficult, that truly is the community that stands with you, and graduate school genuinely is much more enjoyable when you make friends who go through it with you.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell myself to be kind to myself and give myself time to adjust. In my undergrad, we had all worked together to complete assignments and projects, constantly bouncing ideas off of each other and studying together. As a result, we all had become a part of each other’s learning process. This did, however, make the imposter syndrome part of me wonder if I could manage to do any of this by myself, and in a way my grad degree was an attempt to answer that.

It took me a bit in the beginning to adjust to learning primarily alone, and then finding new study groups, and I think in hindsight I would’ve liked to tell myself that it won’t happen right away, the transition will take time, and that it’s okay if not everything is smooth right away – I was trying the best I could in the moment, and I should’ve been kind to myself for that .