We recently caught up with recent Cornell Chem graduate Jazmin Aguilar-Romero (Class of 2018) to find out what they're up to now, and to ask their advice on a few important topics.
Tell us a bit about what you’re doing right now:
I am a Center for Sustainable Polymers Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Lamb lab at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.
Considering where you're at in your professional journey, what are some goals you have for your future?
My main goal is to get a job after my postdoc hopefully as a tenure-track professor at a primarily undergraduate institution or at a community college. I am also considering being a full-time lecturer, so I'm trying to take advantage of my postdoc opportunity to figure out how much research I would actually like to do in my career.
Can you share a little about how Chemistry at Cornell impacted or inspired your career path?
I found chemistry to be a very supportive community, especially among chemistry faculty and my friends in the major. I started off as a pre-med biology major and was very nervous about starting college at an Ivy League. I had a weak background in chemistry, but the Cornell Prefreshman Summer Program (now Pre-Collegiate Summer Scholars Program) caught me up to speed. The chemistry department faculty and students really helped me become a more confident scientist and opened up research opportunities for me early on. It was an easy decision to change my major and fully integrate into the vibrant chemistry community.
What advice would you give an undergraduate who just joined the Chemistry major at Cornell?
I would advise students to not be afraid if you are changing majors into chemistry, and don't feel obligated to follow a "recommended" path in the major. I felt like I was behind because I wasn't following the honors curriculum, but when I got to graduate school I realized I had nothing to worry about. If you can, try to take a couple of graduate-level courses as well. The physical organic and polymer courses I took were taught excellently and the information I learned definitely still serves me well.
Do you have any advice for CHEM majors who will be applying to graduate school this year?
Trust the process and take pride in the work you've been doing at Cornell. Try and organize your research experience into a story that conveys your interests and capabilities in the best way possible... don't sell yourself short! Apply to schools where you'd be happy in multiple (2-3) research groups, and don't forget that it's important to pick a place where you will be happy outside of the lab... grad school will take up a good part of your 20's, so don't forget that there's more to life than just the bench.
