Hey guys,
I’ve posted a bit on here in the past about my goals for the future, but I was hoping to get an idea based on recent events of how likely I would make it into an established graduate program for mechanical engineering (emphasis in Aerospace) after my current experiences in life.
Let’s just say growing up as a child, through high school and even college, I was always known as extremely smart, but not a high achiever. My parents always blamed it on laziness and not meeting my potential. As recently as two weeks ago, I know now that I could blame it on ADHD that I just got diagnosed for and have had acutely since childhood, but I still blame myself mostly for being undisciplined. I made it through high school and college with slightly above 3.0 GPAs, but some pretty dismal grades in the classes I actually care about (the math and science courses). I’ve always tested extremely high, acing most of the math and science tests, but did NOT do well in the general coursework (which I generally blew off in favor of video games and reading manga).
After graduating college with barely a 3.0 and an Anthropology degree (but as I always point out: it was a B.S. in Anthropology so I did take a lot of genetics, organic chem (not the short survey versions either), and some health based physics), I read a bunch of self-help books and books on organizing my life. I then applied to for a teacher credentialing program (at the same time ditching my hyper-religious parents and family as I came out as gay and was all but disowned). With the help of my newly found strategies and understandings, I achieved a 4.0 in my credentialing programs while working 3 jobs and going to school full-time to pay for it, but as people have pointed out, those are not math/science classes, and I personally think credentialing classes were easier in general than the college courses I faced in my undergrad.
As a middle school science teacher for the past 4-5 years, I have flourished. I lucked out in that teaching is one of those careers that actually benefits from an ADHD teacher (at least in the teaching portion, not so much in the grading portion). I keep kids engaged, especially the ones with ADHD because I know their struggles.
Meanwhile, people have stressed the importance of attaining real world experience if I ever wanted to go back to school for a science career. I LOVE teaching, but I have always been enamored by the possibility of working for a space agency (SpaceX, NASA, Blue Origin, etc.). I have interned at two hard physics labs in chemistry and laser science over my summers (taking advantage of programs that pay teachers to work in these areas to bring back their learning to their students), and will probably intern at another this summer. Most of the learning I had to attain for these internships I have accomplished through self-study. I have also done tons of professional development with high quality science museums such as the Exploratorium and the Cal Academy of Sciences.
As a teacher, working for my school, I have been valued and lauded as a very effective and engaging teacher and for bringing classrooms into the 21st century by helping all of my colleagues to integrate technology into their teaching and establishing Google Apps and Microsoft services for our school despite district barriers. I have been asked to become a district coach for technology and have served on many committees for improving science teaching and rolling out new science standards to the rest of the school. I am also working on attaining National Board credentialing which is one of the most regarded measures of quality teaching in the US.
A few years ago, I took a college physics course and aced it, even being asked to intern for my professor (which I had to turn down due to a prior engagement with another internship).
I am now medicating with ritalin (just recently), and my focus has improved drastically when I need it to (again, ADHD has been a boon for my teaching, but the increased focus is helping me with my internships and National Board credentialing which require a lot of seemingly mundane sitting and focusing tasks–my weakness).
My goal is within the next 2-3 years, perhaps phase out of teaching, while attaining my prerequisites for a mechanical engineering graduate degree. I hope to pay for the graduate degree, at least partially, by teaching as a graduate instructor, though I have heard that one might be able to pay their entire way as an instructor if you get the position (do you think my experience as a teacher will help me attain these positions?), and there is even more funding available if you go the PhD route.
If I continue to ace my pre-requisites, make my experiences and achievements known in my application, what chances do you think I would have of being accepted into and attending a well established program in mechanical engineering (aerospace focus?) [or an applied physics program – which is also something I’ve been interested in]. I’m thinking of state colleges such as UC Berkeley (my closest Uni, which is where I might take some of my pre-reqs–for free I might add, as they have such a program for teachers), other good California (preferably NorCal) universities, or perhaps other good programs in other states in the Pacific Northwest (Washington or Oregon)?