Just try to be a good team member. And appreciate the experiences and the
people that you encounter along the way. The advice I would give to younger me is do
hard things and do work on important things. So, work on things that you think
matter. To do the best I could at everything, which is something I try to
do anyways. And just to continue to pursue my passions. To actively seek out
and look for and find the one thing in the world that motivates you more than
anything else. It's okay to dream big. You're gonna only truly be satisfied if
you pursue things you're passionate about. Try new things, try doing new
things, meet new people. That will just kind of help you get out of your comfort
zone and always just kind of stay open to learning new things. I would tell a
younger me to just stay curious, learn as much as you possibly can,
ask questions, don't be put off when you don't understand something, just keep
that curiosity alive. That it's important to always love yourself and the people
around you. And know that failures are part of the process of growth. And if you
want it bad enough, you will get to your destination. I think I would tell a
younger me never to close the door on yourself. I think it's really easy when
you're somebody who has big dreams and goals to kind of talk yourself out of
pursuing those things, and luckily for me, I've had the right nudge from the right
mentor every time I was about to do that. You know I got told at one point in
college, "You should be doing more of this or more of that." And it wasn't what I
wanted to do. And I didn't take that advice and I'm glad I didn't. You should
do what you feel passionate about and that doesn't just need to be the
only things that you think will get you towards your goal. If you like playing
sports, play sports. Like sports were a big thing for me and sometimes I had
people tell me, "Hey, that's taking time away from other
things you should be doing." But, it was really important to me and I think
helped me get here in the end. So, I think just do whatever you love doing and
you'll find that because you're doing something you love, you'll be passionate
about it and you'll succeed. If I were to talk to my 18-year-old self and give him advice,
it would be to focus on fewer things and not try to do absolutely everything. Just
try and focus on a few things and do them incredibly well. Strive to have a
better work/life balance. That's a really hard thing to do in the military and in
this profession and something I still struggle with today. So, I think if
older me said to younger me, "This is important." Maybe I would have listened more.
The experiences sometimes get watered down when you get busy or by other
things that make you nervous along the way. And so, to really step back and
appreciate the experiences. Especially the really unique ones that
maybe other people don't get to encounter. If I were to give some advice
to a younger me, it would be to find mentors early. There are a lot of people
who are interested in your success and want to see you do well and have the
resources that you may or may not have that will allow you to pursue your
interests and follow your passions. The advice I would give to any young person
pursuing this career or a STEM career is that it's really never too early to get
involved. I was so surprised every time I asked somebody, "Hey, I have, you know, no
experience in this particular thing, but I would love to give it a try. Would you
give me a shot in your lab or your research team or wherever?" And how often
they said yes, it's awesome. Just go for it.