Day 31 Banneker Institute

This post is going to be different, I am not going to talk about my progress in my research, but instead about a Harvard Astronomy graduate student, Fernando Becerra. Fernando gave some advise for undergraduate students that want to go to graduate school. He spoke about the differences between graduate school and other levels of education. And he described how the lifestyle of a graduate student is like.

Fernando decided to study because he wants to understand how the physical world works. The way that he wants to do this is through the laws of Physics, and the language of Mathematics. Fernando is currently researching star formations, galaxy mergers ,and the first black holes in the universe. His work involves writing computer programs that will simulate the environments that these systems are born in. You can see some of his simulations in his website linked below.

Fernando described that biggest difference between graduate school and other levels of education is that you more independent. In High School and undergrad you mostly absorb knowledge, but graduate students generate knowledge. In graduate school is when people start to think and work like a researcher. Upcoming graduate students should have an open mind, and should know that research is not the same as the classroom. The skills needed to be a good researcher are different from the skills needed to get a good grade.

Upcoming graduate students need to able to explore to ideas and be flexible to change research projects at the beginning of their graduate careers. They need to know that academia is NOT THE ONLY PATH. Graduate school is the time to train yourself so you can obtain the skills necessary for your dream profession. In terms of the lifestyle of a graduate student, there is no one style. Everyone decides when to work and when not to work. Some people work early in the morning, and others late at night. The main thing to keep in mind is to be consistent.

Fernando's Website and Contact Information:
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~fbecerra
fbecerra@cfa.harvard.edu

"Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."

-Victor Kiam