Remember playing tug of war as a child? Think back to recess or gym class and envision two teams pulling on opposite ends of a rope, each trying to pull the other across a dividing line. One team tugs hard and makes a little progress, but then the other team rallies. Perhaps one team finally overpowers the other, but in many cases the teams are of equal strength and the contest is a draw.

Many grad students often feel “pulled” in different directions. Brianna Blaser, a 2008 PhD recipient from UW’s Women Studies department was no exception. Her career development tug of war began as a child. She was active in Girl Scouts and developed an early interest in helping others while growing up in DC. However, as a determined and intelligent adolescent, Brianna pursued interests in math and science. She excelled in high school, majored in math at Carnegie Mellon, worked for the National Institute for Standards and Technology, and planned to earn a graduate degree in math. Soon after arriving at college, Brianna began to ask questions about the scarcity of women in her math and science classes. Somewhere along the way her interest in helping others and understanding issues regarding diversity started competing with her interests in math. Subsequently, she added a psychology major to her math major and picked up a minor in gender studies. But the tug of war wasn’t over. The prestige associated with pursuing a career in math and the pressure she received from others to go the math route were hard to ignore. By her junior year, however, she began to delve deeper into her questions about gender dynamics and what they meant for the society in which she lived. She also more fully realized her desire to help people directly and to improve science education.

As graduation loomed, Brianna knew she wanted to go to grad school but she was wrestling with a number of important questions. What do I really want to study? Am I committed enough to pursue a PhD, or will a Master’s degree suffice? Am I willing to leave the East Coast? After much research and reflection, Brianna ended up in the UW Women Studies doctoral program. She felt the program was a good place for her because the people were supportive and the program aligned well with her research interests. But, as many grad students can attest, it wasn’t all candy and roses. Brianna found that being in Women Studies required some adjustment after coming from a more technical background.

After her second year as a grad student, Brianna began working for the Center for Workforce Development (CWD), where she continued to work until she completed her doctorate. At CWD, Brianna found a way to combine her interests in gender studies, math/science, and service to others, as the center’s mission is to diversify the global engineering and science workforce by providing mentoring programs, assessing educational climates, and evaluating programs. For Brianna, CWD became her “home” on campus and a key to her future success. In addition, Brianna also completed a summer internship in DC with the Association for Women in Science.

Brianna enjoyed her studies but she had doubts about whether she wanted to pursue a career as an academic. Like many grad students, she was unsure about what kind of non-academic career path to follow. So another tug of war began. Her participation in UW Career Center workshops such as Career Identity Beyond the Ivory Tower, Working the Room, and How to Find a Job; events such as the Graduate Student Networking Reception; and one on one career counseling sessions were helpful in thinking through her life after graduation. She spent a good amount of time looking into different companies and non-profits, reaching out to contacts, conducting informational interviews, and applying for jobs – in Seattle and beyond. One day, Brianna came across a posting for the position of Project Director for Outreach at AAAS – the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The position was immediately appealing to her because the advertised job tasks included running career development programming similar to the programming that she ran at CWD. The job provided an opportunity to travel and help the science community, and it was with a well-respected organization. Within two days she did a phone interview and flew out for an interview the following week. They immediately invited her back and during the second visit, they made an offer!

Whew! Sound exciting? It was…and stressful…as Brianna was trying to finish and defend her dissertation and weigh her options in terms of both her personal and professional goals. She was also experiencing another tug, this time of a more personal nature, as she grappled with the idea of moving away from Seattle. In the end, Brianna decided to accept the position because it allows her to blend her passions for math and science and empowering others; it makes good use of her varied background experiences; and it allows her to return to her roots in the nation’s capital.

Brianna encourages current students to take the time to really think about what they want for their future, to use campus resources, and to “be strategic about how and where they spend their time.” Furthermore, even though her interview process at AAAS went remarkably fast, Brianna experienced her share of frustrations during her job search and encourages others to take the job search process seriously. “Nobody ever said looking for a job was easy and you have to take the time to look. When you start, start early enough, continue to talk about it with someone and bounce ideas off of someone, especially an unbiased source. Don’t be discouraged!”

If you’re feeling pulled in different directions, don’t succumb to the idea that one interest has to compete with and overpower another. If your interests are of similar strength, don’t get rope burn playing tug of war. Finding a way to make your interests work together is often the best solution.

— Written by Briana Keller and Nina Kim