Hi Everyone! Welcome to Geology
Jots!
My name is
Krista and I am a 1st year geology graduate student at UCLA. Geology Jots is a place where I share my
experiences as a young graduate student and my love for the science of
geology. This blog has three goals which
are:
-
To inform and excite the public about an often
overlooked science.
-
To document life as a graduate student
-
To inspire people (especially young women and
girls) to get engaged in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)
fields.
I became
interested in geology when I was very young.
For as long as I can remember I have loved to collect rocks, wondering
what they were made of and how they formed.
In 3rd grade I presented a science fair project on the rock
cycle. Despite this, geology was not
always an obvious path for me. I encountered many preconceived notions which
almost prevented me from being where I am today. I almost didn’t major in geology because a
teacher in high school discouraged me from taking classes in the subject
stating geology wasn’t a ‘real’ science.
It wasn’t until I happened to take a geology class my freshman year of
college (the class I had wanted to take was full) that I realized how wrong my high
school teacher was. Geology was complex
and fascinating and I was excited to study it.
Once I realized this I encountered another problem. Geology required chemistry, physics, and
math. I constantly struggled in math
leading teachers, classmates, my parents, and even myself to believe I simply
wasn’t a math or science person.
Guidance from a geophysics professor showed me that nobody is born with
an ability or inability to do well in subjects like math. They are skills that need to be practiced and
learned. With this new mindset I became
more open-minded about learning and relished the challenges presented to me in
classes. As I approached my final year I
found I wanted to learn more, especially about the unsolved mysteries of the
interior of the earth. I began thinking
about graduate school. However, I was
afraid I didn’t have what it takes to pursue a PhD. Support from my classmates and advisers
encouraged me to give it a try anyway and here I am today! I hope that by sharing my experiences I can disprove the assumptions I faced and create a clearer path for young scientists.
I
look forward to sharing my adventures with you!
