This past Spring, Beyond the PhD welcomed our first ambassador program cohort. This program was designed to facilitate the dissemination of information from our group to STEM students across local college campuses. The mission of Beyond the PhD is to provide career seminars, networking opportunities, and career development workshops for students interested in learning about their career options within academia and beyond. Ambassadors attended weekly team members and improved their skills in science communication by hosting career seminars, interviewing professionals, writing articles, and dispersing information about events to fellow students at their university.
For our spring 2022 cohort, we had the pleasure of working with two undergraduate biology students from the University of Hartford, Jaden and Mariangelie. These students worked with Beyond the PhD to dive deeper into their respective career interests, pharmacy and genetic counseling. In order to learn more about these careers, Mariangelie planned and hosted a career seminar with a genetic counselor, and wrote a piece for our blog about the valuable information she learned at the seminar. Jaden held an interview with a commercial pharmacist about the different aspects of their job and advice on applying to pharmacy school. This interview was also published on our website. We at Beyond the PhD have enjoyed working with our Ambassadors and hope that they have expanded their knowledge about the prospective career opportunities available to them.
We believe the first cohort of Ambassadors was truly a success and we look forward to the further expansion of our program. We are currently accepting applications for the Fall 2022 semester for a new cohort of Ambassadors, open to both undergraduate and graduate students in any STEM field. If you are interested in being a part of our group to help expand our reach to students at your university, please fill out the application on our website. We look forward to seeing the great content and careers our new Ambassadors will explore and share with you all.
A few words from our recent Ambassadors about their experience in the program:
Personally my favorite part about being an ambassador for Beyond the PhD was getting first hand information about the career I want to pursue. Being a part of this organization gave me the opportunity to work in a group setting with others to propel my interest and the interest of the group. The ambassador program also gave me an opportunity to write and publish pieces on events that either myself or others have worked on. For any students interested in being a part of a fun and truly inspirational group, I would recommend the ambassador program for you!
-Jaden
My favorite part about being a part of the Ambassador program was definitely having the opportunity to host my own seminar on the profession that I will be going into in the near future. All of the team members were extremely supportive before, during, and after the fact and were so excited to watch me move closer to my goals. As an undergraduate student still figuring some things out, this program was an incredible program to be a part of as I learned a lot and was able to work with a great group of people. I look forward to continuing work with Beyond the PhD, continuing on my journey, and continuing to help others succeed while in the process.
-Mariangelie
