One of my best friends in graduate school has taken on the leadership role for planning our program’s annual retreat, and recently our program directors asked her to send a list of 3-4 “prestigious scientists” that we (students) would be interested in having serve as the keynote speaker for this retreat. She asked me if I was the type of person that “just knows the names of prestigious scientists”. So I was honest and said no. Number one, I’m horrible with names. Number two…and hopefully this doesn’t sound bad…but I sometimes call myself a “fake scientist” because I’m not convinced that I’m as into it as other people are, and so I don’t really have “science superstars” that I dream of meeting one day. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m that into anything or anyone…not even singers, actors/actresses, or sports things (yes, I am diagnosed with depression lol). Unless it’s Jimmy Butler from Miami Heat. I AM really into him. And that’s definitely just for his basketball skills and definitely nothing else…😉

OK, I lied a little bit. I also have science communicators that I dream of meeting 👀 Like podcast hosts Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke (This Podcast Will Kill You), authors Mary Roach and Deborah Blum (I’ll add them to my Reading List page someday…hopefully soon), and public health advocate Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. BUT, when it comes to scientists like the ones my program directors are asking for, I don’t really know of any 😅 (I’m sorry and please don’t hold this against me…at least I’m honest??).

And number three (see, it didn’t end with numbers one and two), I don’t really like the idea of “prestige”. I think that when we only focus on prestige, we miss out on knowing about a lot of great people who also do amazing work. I think that when we only focus on prestige, we only focus on people who have had certain privileges that A LOT of people were not granted, could not afford, etc. Because, often, when we think of prestige, we think of people who went to Ivy League Universities or work for very well-known Institutions. I am not saying that people who attend those Universities or work at those Institutions are not deserving of the awards, accolades, and opportunities they have, I just think that we need to open our eyes 👀, ears 👂🏽, and hearts ❤️ to people outside of those traditional, “prestigious” institutions. Because there are a lot of great people at lesser known or less prestigious institutions who do just as great of work.

I think I’ve always felt this way…maybe because I grew up in the middle class, attended a ~not great, but not awful~ high school, and…I guess I’ve always been a little anti-bourgeoisie. When applying to undergraduate, I only applied to state schools. Admittedly, that was probably more so because I wanted to have a medium-big school feel, lots of opportunity, great sports, and cheap(er) tuition. However, since actually attending a state school, that feeling has only grown. And that feeling was really solidified thanks to all of the amazing professors I had at Towson University. In my Organic Chemistry class – a class with 75+ students sitting in it – my professor learned every single student’s name by the end of the first week. In my Anatomy & Physiology Class – a class with 90+ students (!!!) – my professor begged us to come to her office hours if we needed help (and even if we didn’t need it, but just wanted it). I still remember exactly what she said. She said, “We are here because we want to help students. If we only wanted to do research, we’d be at the school down the road.” (You can look up which Ivy League is close to Towson to get the idea…). That meant a lot to me. And years later, I’ve never forgotten it.

Since coming to graduate school, my appreciation of professors like those mentioned (and those not mentioned!) has only grown. I was really nervous to start graduate school after taking two gap years to conduct full-time research (hmm…blog post in the future about that??). And I was especially nervous to start classes – I was worried that I had lost my drive to study (…that fear was accurate…though thankfully it ended up not being a big deal). BUT, it quickly became evident to me that, thanks to my professors at Towson, I was aptly prepared for graduate coursework.

In graduate school, it seems like professors just try to shove as much information down your throat as they possibly can and hope that you can swallow and absorb some of it (or at least enough to ride the curve 🏄🏻‍♀️). And I know that some undergraduate institutions are like that too. But Towson wasn’t. At Towson, my professors both shared a lot of information with us AND taught it in a way so that we could actually understand it. We were not graded on a curve…you got what you got. And it was possible to do really well because professors actually cared about their students and wanted us to truly learn. Crazy idea, no?

A lot of people have never even heard of Towson University (unless they live in Maryland). But, when I compare my undergraduate experience to those of my sibling’s or those of my friend’s who attended the flagship schools of various states (that tend to be regarded as prestigious…or at least more prestigious than Towson lol), I honestly feel like I learned a lot more than them and had way better professors too 😅 Not saying that those other Universities are bad by any means, just that Towson is really, really amazing 😁

All this to say, maybe we should rethink the importance of prestige. Because what does prestige really mean? Attending a well-known university? Working at a well-known institution? Likely being born into a family with an income well-above the national average and maybe a dose of nepotism?? …I’m not sure those are the things that make people great. (Again, NOT to say that all “prestigious” people have had those privileges…just that that tends to be the case…).

Instead, what I think makes people great is: doing great and honest work, being a great mentor, being kind, being a teammate, and being open to experiences and identities that might be considered “non-traditional”. Really, just being authentic to yourself, doing things that are meaningful to you, and helping others as much as you can. Now, I’m definitely very biased in saying all of this…because I consider myself to be all of those things 😂 (…I know…super humble). But, I still think we should all reconsider the importance of “prestige” and recognize that when we only focus on prestige, we are missing out on knowing and learning from a lot of other amazing and wonderful people.

-K out!

…new signoff??