Young Professionals

Abstract

I have a challenging PhD situation. I began my PhD in 2017 part time, meaning that I was working full-time and taking classes at night. Due to this, I was not privy to the normal PhD experience in some ways. I was not exactly a first year or a second year because I was studying along at my own pace on my own time. Due to this, I did not meet fellow students in my “year” or have a connection to anyone else in the program. During my already strenuous coursework, this led to feelings of loneliness. In 2020 it was time for me to join a lab and start my thesis research. I met a professor, Dr. Yang Cao, who I automatically connected with and decided to join his group at the University of Connecticut (UConn): Electrical Insulation Research Center (EIRC). To accommodate my research, I went part time at my day job, allowing me to spend full days at the university lab. This was the best decision I have made in my PhD endeavors, and I began to unveil the absolute best part of the PhD process, my lab mates.