Point of No Return
Originally delivered as a speech on January 16, 2020 at a meeting of the Mountaineer Toastmasters.
Should I even bother to apply? The Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Graduate Fellowship Program at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine seemed like a reach. While they say they consider everyone in a graduate degree program or within five years of graduating with such a degree, after reading the bios of many of the alumni it felt like a long shot, only in the second semester of my master’s degree at an average school, sorry Marshall!
Turns out that they don’t get a lot of applicants passionate about transportation and that the Transportation Research Board within the National Academy of Sciences had demand for someone passionate about transportation safety. I was paired with a mentor, Dr. Rick Pain, who would guide me through the next four months of my life in Washington, DC.
Rick Pain was on his third career and had grandchildren older than I was. He seemed to know everyone and everything about transportation safety. I was in awe that this person would even make time for me. Initially it was all business. I caught up with him most mornings to find out what my schedule would look like that day, as I was generally to accompany him to all meetings. I could barely keep them all straight: it’d be the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in the morning, AARP in the afternoon, after lunch with executives from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials. Lots of folks in very high places competed for his time.
About a month after starting, we traveled to a conference in Portland and had a chance to talk about more than just business. We discovered a mutual love of trains. He’d spent a lot of time in Chicago when he was younger and he could paint a picture with words. He’d traveled many of the same routes I had, but before Amtrak when everything was streamlined stainless steel. This mutual passion formed the foundation of our ongoing friendship and the point when his mentorship started carving my path forward. The point of no return.
I could talk for hours about my experience as a Mirzayan Fellow, but let me provide some examples of poignant moments of his mentorship.
Scene 1: The end of a workday, sitting in his office reviewing the work of the day he asked me what my plans were after I finished at Marshall. Specifically, he asked if I was interested in pursuing a Ph.D. We spent two hours talking through what I’d like to do if I pursued that path, talked about the opportunity cost, and he reached out to five faculty members he thought would make a good match. These folks were at some pretty impressive schools, including Penn State. Most wrote back enthusiastically. I had to do the work, but he helped me open doors that I didn’t even realize I had the keys to.
Scene 2: I was preparing the first ever summary of research in the area of distracted driving. I had three days to do the work and then deliver it to a high-profile summit on distracted driving on Capitol Hill. Recognizing that I’d been working almost non-stop for three days, when I was about ready to leave he recommended that I take the train to Philadelphia and treat myself to a nice dinner. He used our similarities, rather than our differences, to provide supportive and kind advice.
Scene 3: One of the last events I attended as a Fellow was at the Transportation Research Board. It was held at the original National Academy of Sciences building on Constitution Avenue, about a block from the Lincoln Monument. In fact, the Albert Einstein Memorial is in the Academies front yard. At one point he pulled me aside to show me something. There are chambers in this building reserved only for members of the National Academies. I couldn’t go in, but the door to the library was open. He explained the history and explained the exclusivity of the space. He said that one day I’d be able to go in. I was a 22-year-old who felt like she was in over her head alongside doctoral students from places like Harvard and Wake Forest, though there was one WVU graduate there, too! Hearing this experienced and well-seasoned gentleman tell me that one day I could go into the chambers even he couldn’t go into, talk about a point of no return.
It was a long shot to apply to this fellowship. I was an underdog. I can point to many projects and policies that I helped start, develop, or support, but the greatest and most enduring result of that fellowship is the mentorship experience that made the course I’m following even possible.
