Episode 18: Black in Immunology

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Black in Science. Before we dive in, there are a few disclaimers I'd like to make. So first things first, these episodes are recorded virtually from the comfort of our own homes, so you may hear some ambient noises like a dog barking in the background or train going by, and these are all uncontrollable factors of the environments we live in. So please try your best to do what I do and just tune them out. Secondly, these interviews are recorded utilizing modern day technology, which can have the occasional glitch. So you may hear some lag either in my responses or that of the guests I'm talking to, but I promise you they do not take away from the overall story being shared. So without further ado, a list Katie stored it. On today's episode, I spoke with the wonderfully authentic Miss Brianda, who's currently working as a senior scientist for a pharmaceutical company. Throughout the interview, Brianda discusses her childhood about growing up in a military family, her experiences while simultaneously pursuing two advanced degrees, and her side-com platform entitled Fly Science. You guys are going to enjoy this conversation. Brianda is open, she's honest, and she keeps it 100% real while sharing her story. Now before we start, I'd like to make a note that there's some personal information that Brianda was not comfortable sharing publicly, so all I ask is that you please respect her privacy. So with that being shared, let's get into it. Okay, so hello Miss Brianda and welcome to Black in Science. I'm so glad you were able to join me today. So to start things off, why don't you introduce yourself, tell us your name and where you grew up. Hey, my name is Brianda. I'm a military kid, so I grew up in a lot of states. I'd say I'm from mainly Virginia and Maryland, probably. And how was that experience for you living all over? Was it, did you live internationally as well or did you just live all over in the United States? Just in the US, because my mom doesn't, she never wanted to leave. My dad has been international and lived in, he lived in like Korea for a year. And when I was younger, he lived in Africa and, um, Ethiopia, Eritrea. I believe that's how you pronounce it. So he's left multiple times while we were younger. I like to move in around. I have a lot of, I have a huge family, but also I have a lot of friends and stuff in different states that I, so I say I'm like from Virginia or Maryland or whatever, but every summer we were going somewhere. What was your favorite place to live? Take it, X that all the time. I enjoyed Louisiana and it's right across the bridge from New Orleans. And that's where I would say that I fell in love with science, but it wasn't like, oh, I fell in love with science. It was more so, I was exploring things a lot. I just remember the colors being so vivid and me being outside a lot. Crawfish grew in our backyard and I remember red fire ants and just being outside a lot. There and I loved living in Maryland too. And my best friend to this day, she is like, we're going on 22 years this year. Oh my god, yeah. She's from there. She still is there. So you would say you went to high school in Maryland, did not in Virginia. I went to high school. I went to, so we break up our 18 years of mine being a minor. I would say half of that was moving around the other halves. Let's fit in Virginia. Okay. Yeah, so yeah, I stayed in Virginia for a very long time. So when did you end up graduating from high school? 2010. And then did you go into undergrad right after that or did you work or take another path? I went right after graduating high school. So what did you end up studying in undergrad? Biology. Yeah, and I knew I have an older cousin that went to college for biology too. And I think I just knew, I think I knew from middle school that I was going to do biology. I didn't, I didn't want to go to college and I ended up going to all the, like all the degrees. But I didn't want to go to college. But I just knew that if I were to go to college, I knew it would be biology. And did you do any undergraduate research while you were there? Yes, I had two internships. One was for liver and obesity research at a hospital. And the other was actually a physics internship. And that one was pretty cool. It was, it was pretty cool the way my cousin set it up. She worked at the university and she was able to set it up so that it was interdisciplinary. And I would be in the bio department but doing a physics aspect towards it. So basically imaging. I saw a microscope being made. So it's not, yeah, it's not a microscope when it's first being made. It's not the commercially available microscope. It's all the parts are basically like Lagos. It's all laid out. Yeah, in the lights like laser. They were building a microscope that would allow you to take images of live things. So right now, like currently, the things that you're imaging are usually dead. And you probably dissect them or like fix them or something like that. But they were trying to take images of live things. So I saw that being made and it was pretty cool. Awesome. I like how they let you combine just like as something that's very different. And still in science, obviously, but something that's very different is something you are interested in. I think that's really cool. Yeah, plus microscopes are cool. Yeah. Yeah, that was a dope. That was a dope internship. And actually that internship was at HBCU, was at Delaware State University. And that's where I decided to pursue advanced degrees. Because before that, I went to a PWI for undergrad and before that didn't see any black people in research. And when I went to the HBCU, I saw, oh, this is, this is what this is. I want, I actually, what, what it was was I saw a thesis, like a printed thesis that would probably go in a library. I want, I was like, I want one of those. I wanted, I want to be in a library book. And so that's where it would start it. Because before that internship, I just wanted to be allowed, get my degree, be a lab tech, and that's it. I worked. I don't have to worry about anything else. No more school, nothing. I just wanted a job. But have, do that internship. I changed my goals. Awesome. We love that like little exposures that really help you find your passion, I'd say. Absolutely. So did you do anything like any extracurriculars while you were in undergrad as well? Yep. Was I minor in dance, classically trained dancer from when I was little. And I was on a hip-hop dance team. Awesome. And did you, were you able to balance your internships and your schoolwork and your dance as well? Like did you find that to be easy to do all three or four? I guess. I also worked. I worked. Was it easy? It was manageable. I will say that when I got my highest GPA when I was on a dean's list, I did not have a job. Adding a job. Once you get higher up in the undergrad, your time commitment for classes increase. So before it would be like, oh, yeah, I'm a lab class in a lecture. And then it gets to a lab class lecture and recitation. Or I think that's what it is, the recitation. And then you're in two or three classes that have all three of these things. So it just gets convoluted. It was a couple of semesters where I couldn't be on the dance team because it was just too much. But I had to keep working because I needed money. But yeah, it was manageable. I think I like the type of person that I am. I like having to do a lot of things. Yeah, I think that I find that I manage my time better when I have a lot to do, because then I have to actually sit down and plan out what I'm going to do. When versus if I have old day to do something, I'm like, I have plenty of time. Yeah. I wait until the last minute of my crap. So yeah, I feel you on that one. So after you finished undergrad, you said you pursued an advanced degree. Did you do that immediately after? Did you work in between? No. - Oh, okay, so I graduated undergrad early, as semester early, because I pursued college credits in high school, I decided to do advanced degrees the summer before my last semester. So, as we all know, that's sort of something that you probably should decide earlier than that, because of grades, and so I decided that, and also there was this thing in undergrad where I was a bio major, and they were saying that when you come out with a bio degree, they'll qualify for any jobs, because most jobs, this is what I was told, most jobs, the certification, or experience right when you get out. So, it would be harder for you to find a job. So, I said become a Certified Medical Laboratory Scientist or a Midtech, and I applied, and I got into Midtech School. So, I graduated early though, so I had, from December all the way to July, free time. In that time, I became a pharmacy tech. (laughs) So, as a state certified pharmacy tech, and this is really easy, you can look at a book, take the little test, and if you work at like a Walgreens or CVS, or something like that, they pay for your national certification, and then this is what it was back then. (laughs) And then you get an increase in pay once you are nationally certified. Anyway, that's what I was trying to do, but they couldn't give me in the classes before I moved, 'cause I didn't move to go back to Midtech School. I went to Midtech School, that was a year-long program at a hospital, and then after that, I was through, I could not do any more school. Just 'cause undergrad was a lot for me. It was a locust, traumatic experience. (laughs) And then, it's traumatic because I'm black. All my black friends, then I found community in Nesby, which is national society, black engineers, yes, Nesby. So I found some community there for black STEM people, but outside of that, I was not an engineer. I was biology, so outside of that, there was few black people in there, and most of my black friends were in communication. They were communication majors, or something else. And so they're partying, starting Wednesday. (laughs) Yeah, and I was like, "I got seven A and lab on Friday." Yeah, you can't get on your lab, your classes on Fridays. And so it was kind of a lonely experience, going through that as a black STEM person at a PWI. And I just wanted to have fun. I didn't have, I never had a screen break because bio people, they like to schedule exams. The day you come back from a screen break. (laughs) So I never really had a screen break for real. And I wanted to have fun. So I was done. I was like, "No more school." So I said, "I'm just gonna take a whole, a full year off." And I got a job as an extraction, I said, "A toxicology lab." After I graduated from med school. And yeah, we're fair. And I went to a helic, I mean, can I cut some of them? (laughs) I think so, yeah. I went to Austin, so I went to a lot of concerts. I also started my science communication platform called "Black Science" in this time. Because actually, back when I was in med school, I was learning things that weren't readily, the information was not available to people in my community. And so I wanted to disseminate this information in a digestible, accessible way. So create a fly science to do YouTube videos for the topics I learned in med school, which eventually evolved as I got more education. (laughs) And then after that, I was working at the toxicology lab. And I was just like, "I don't wanna stay here." (laughs) And so I decided I wanted to pursue PhD. I applied to one PhD program. I don't advise that. I got waitlisted, and I was still like, I don't want to stay here another year. I don't wanna go through another, wait another cycle. So I actually went to an alumni of it and my undergrad. And one of my friends told me to contact Dr. Toll, Renetta Toll, who was part of the bridge to doctorate program. And because I participated in an L-Sant in undergrad, I was eligible for the bridge to doctorate program. And so I contacted her. She was like, "Contact the school." I contacted the school. Eventually they had some seats open. Actually, they do admissions on a rolling basis sometimes. And so I got into a master's program (laughs) for that stall. I actually quit my job. And then I got a new job for literally three weeks. And then I went to a grad school. So I pursued a master's because I was waitlisted for the PhD program. But then after, you know, I was finishing on my master's, I got into that PhD program after that. (laughs) - Awesome. So what program did you get into for your master's? - So it was a biological sciences program. - Okay. - And then same question for your PhD. - It was molecular medicine. - So how was your experience during your PhD? - I did not finish. (laughs) - You know what, I'm just gonna be honest. I was dismissed. So grad school is crazy to be honest. You are underpaid for the amount of work that you do. - Yeah, additionally, I was, although I was in a heavily black city, in my program, I was like one of few black people. But where I went to school, they have built a community of black academics. Under IMSD, IMSD is the initiative for maximizing student development. And so there was just a large network of black academics. But we are in different classes. We're in different institutions, we're in different departments. So we are far a few between, but we can collect, we're mandated to get together for meetings under our fellowship. And so that got me through. But again, you know, I had a few out of them look like me, and my committee didn't look like me. My GPD didn't look like me. My chair didn't look like me in my department. And as time went on, it just got more and more difficult, trying to navigate all of that, to the point where I didn't finish my master's before I started my PhD. So my first semester of my PhD, I'm trying to write my master's thesis. And the program that I went to from my PhD requires you to pass this course that is really rigorous. And if you don't pass it passing, like if you don't get a C or, if you don't get a B or better, then you are dismissed from the program. Yeah, that, wow. And when you say passing, I think like see my friends, like, you know, you're gonna give it to you, but it'd be okay, wow. So you were doing your master's thesis at the same time you were taking this course. Exactly, you know, they shouldn't have what that happens. You know, I was going back and I really wanted my PhD. I mean, I really wanted my master's thesis spent two years doing it, but it was incredibly difficult under the circumstances that I was in. And I'm being in vague because I don't know if there would be, you know, something to come up with. But, yeah, (laughs) but it was incredibly, it was incredibly difficult being there at that time and trying to finish. It was many times where I was going back and forth, like just quit, you know, you're already in a PhD program, just quit. But if you quit, right? I have to go through the PhD program. Like, if I don't make it through the PhD program, I have nothing. I have, I will have spent three years at this point with no degree and I did all of this work. And so, yeah, that was a difficult decision and then it was just, it was just psychologically, it was just, this is just going to keep happening, right? Even if I finish my PhD, eventually, if I do stay in academia and pursue a faculty position, it's going to be the same thing. (laughs) It's just a lot of, excuse my French, but there's just a lot of BS with, as far as academia is not a solid financial source. They don't have, you have to apply to grants. It's like research does not make money. You really get paid to just find answers to questions. That's not, you don't profit off of that. - There's no profit off of that. - Unless you're really, really lucky or-- - Right, it's strategic. - It's not like working at, you're not doing a service, right? The service that you're doing is not direct. It's not like you're performing diagnostic tests and you can build insurances and you can get a profit off of that. It's not like you're sequencing for major labs, and you can generate a profit off of that. That's not what this school is not. (laughs) That's not what this is. You're not creating pharmaceutical products, right? (laughs) - Yeah. Yeah, it's like majority of it's for your own enlightenment. - Or the school's name, you know, or the lab's name, you know, carrying the lab's name. It's just not a profitable thing. And so there are a lot of biases to get grant money, to get funding. And if you're not in the lab with a name, if you're not of a certain, you know, if your research isn't about a certain population, it's just harder, it's hard. It's not impossible, it's just harder. And so I was sitting there in my PhD, just like, do I wanna go through another factor to the use of this? There's a large, I don't think this is talked about enough, but there's a large opportunity cost when pursuing a PhD. Then no one really talks about, and I'm just a little bit irritated about that, because you see all these young people, they're just like, I got into my dream school. I got into my dream school. I got, I said in 2012, when I went to an SB conference in that city, and I saw that institution, looked it up. I said, I want to be here for my PhD, and I got there. Nobody is talking about how, yes, you got into your dream school, but there is also on the other side of that, a large opportunity cost. You're not getting paid. By the time you do your calls, you are an expert in your field. If you pass your calls, you are an expert. You don't get paid accordingly for that at all. But you're honestly right now, grad schools cannot afford me. So it's just, just a lot, that was a large, I don't know what question we're all on, but that was a lot. And I'm not saying that is all bad. That was 100%. But there's a lot, there's a large, there's a wealth of knowledge that I gained. There's a wealth of access that I gained. There's so many people that I know because of, because I was able to attend grad school. And I do intend on going back and finishing, but you know, I have to do it in a way that is, I gain a lot more than I lose. - Yeah, I think it has, one makes sense for you, and you have to be realistic about it. Like yes, when I go to grad school, I'm going to be living off a stipend. And it's not going to be that much money. And then can I actually afford to do this and live wherever I'm going to school and take care of myself. And for some people, they come from families that are financially well-offs. So they don't have to worry about that factor. But for others, yeah, you really have to look at the cost versus benefits of it. And you really have to make sure that you, especially if you're going into academia, in my opinion, have to really make sure that you love what you do because you're not guaranteed a good payout financially in the end of that. - I'm telling you, I think love isn't enough, 'cause I'm signed down, okay, I got signed set-toes. I'm under it. I will sit up there in the lab all day and all night, right? - But sometimes that's not enough. Sometimes it's, I don't love it enough to be disrespected every day. You know, I don't love it enough to be belittled. - You know? - And some people are like, yeah, I can't, because it's worth it. And other people are like, "Hello, this is not for me. This is ridiculous, I'm out." And that's fine, like to each their own, you have to know yourself and recognize that. And I'm glad that you did, you know? - It was a hard, that was a very hard decision, 'cause I got, I got to where I wanted to be. I was there. Every time I met work, I was like, I'd be like, "I was there." (laughs) I could be, my friends that I went in are doing their calls now. Like I could have been a candidate like a long time ago. I'd be so upset when I think about it. But, you know, just like you said, everybody has their own path. I think the main thing to tell people who are considering this journey already in this journey is considered the opportunity cost. Is finishing with a PhD worth that opportunity cost? 'Cause you lose out on wages, you lose out on savings for retirement, you lose out on, you'll see, you will go through, life still happens, right? Well, you're in high school, you will go through, and your friends are buying houses, having kids, getting married, and you're like, "I'm still in school." (laughs) So, and there's not a lot, is the structure of grad school? I don't know about all institutions, but it's not structured so that you get paid time off. You have to negotiate a vacation, even if your P.I. might not allow. (laughs) Might be like no, especially if your P.I. is paying your salary. Excuse me, no vacation, you're in a lab. Actually, I want you in a lab over the weekend. No. (laughs) But there are some. Okay, where's my data? Oh, you should be in a lab over the weekend. Because there's a job on the line too. Also, consider, if the person you're doing research under is a very new faculty member, never had any grad students, so you're the first grad student. Consider that to consider way those options. Do you want to be learning this academic process along with your mentor? You got to consider that. Would you want to be in a more established lab and that has more of a way of doing things that can navigate, you can navigate kind of better with that. You just have to weigh a lot of options. (laughs) Yeah, consider all of these factors. And yeah, decide what's best for you, honestly. Which is a lot, like, it is a lot. Shoot, for one of my semesters, I took the leave of absence. And I would have took the leave of absence for last year. Not gonna last, 'cause it may prolong it, but no. Okay. (laughs) Yeah, where would that be? Trying to get data about half a million people are dying. I would not be able to do it. Hey, when I was in grad school, I was like, "Blast, you are dying! You want me to care about this?" "I don't care." (laughs) Right? Priorities, though, but for real. Yeah. Yes. So you ended up leaving your Ph.T. program. And did you end up finishing your mask? Yes, so I got a job at a hospital, the pandemic hit. And I was working full-time at a hospital during the pandemic, if it is my master's. All at the same time. (laughs) God bless. Yeah. That right one, dealing with COVID. Two, working in a lab, you know, hospital lab while doing with COVID. Three, finishing a master's, after four, doing my Ph.T. program, so you, wow. But you know what? You did it, you powered through and you finished. And that's in a comfortable place. Yes, I'm sure. It's still getting comfortable with saying that or celebrating that. Sometimes I just feel like people don't care. (laughs) I don't know whatever. I got my master's too. I was like, "But did you get it during the pandemic?" (laughs) Right? Right? I was, I was saying no. (laughs) Right. (laughs) No. (laughs) That was the little finish. I don't want to, for those listening, I don't want to discourage you all from going and advancing your education. I don't want to do that. I'm just being real of what things can happen. I love being in a lab. I love research. I can, before I went to Glasgow, I couldn't read papers the way in the way in which scientists repapers, I couldn't do it. Now I can. And then I can, was it communicate these things that are in these science, writing, science writing is a whole different language. But I can translate it, (laughs) and so that people outside of science, outside of academia can understand them. And I gained that through going to grad school. There's a lot of things that you can gain in grad school. There's a lot of understanding. There's a new way of thinking, new way of writing. that you can gain. And I want my people to be there. It wasn't a lot of us. But I also want them to respect us in these spaces. So just be aware of some of the some of the things that can happen if you do choose to pursue graduate work. Well said. Yeah. Because nobody told me I was just up there. Oh, I'm good about masters. Okay. And you know, my advisors are getting a little irritated with me because I don't know anything. I don't know anybody that had STEM graduate degrees. I didn't know about this or that. Or even if your undergrad institution did they prepare you for graduate work? Well, school I went to for my master's was a heavy research institution. The one I went for undergrad was not. I did research, but I didn't know like I was just in a lab. I didn't know how to accrue data and analyze it. And actually what I was doing, I didn't know what I was doing. Okay. So you finished your masters while working as a med library in a hospital. So after you finished, did you continue work? Yes. Because it was getting real pandemic was getting real. And I couldn't. The jobs that I wanted, I couldn't really get until I finished my masters. The at the level I wanted. Because I couldn't work in many places with what I didn't want to start from undergrad. I was applying to because I went to grad school and because I had certain people looking out for me, they were telling me places to apply applied to I didn't apply to gin and tug, but I do know what gin and tug is. They're a biomedical tech company. I think they're the first established one. If I'm correct, they're huge. And I was, I applied and got accepted to visit the campus, but since it was COVID was all online. And there you were, so if I say like network with people and ask about working there as a job or any internships and stuff like that. So I applied and was accepted to there. And I didn't want to move to California during the pandemic. So I didn't apply to any actual jobs there. But I knew, all right. So for those who are listening, I, yeah, I was a med tech. But how can I say this? Unless you're in a research institution. Like there's not really, I wanted to be a researcher, not just not allowed. I hate saying just a lab tech, but I didn't want I want to be involved in designing experiments and doing experiments and analyzing data. As far as being a med tech, you, you are not looking at data. You're looking at a lot of results in ensuring that the instrument is, that's what lab science is. It's like trouble shooting, using different instruments. And there is a lot of knowledge that goes into being a clinical lab science, medical lab science, and that's exactly whatever. It's a different work environment. There's a lot of customer service involved. If you're not interested in that, kind of down to it, unless you wanted to work at it. Because all night, nurses and physicians are calling me asking where my life for their labs are at. It's just like a lot for somebody who I did just kind of come out of a traumatic experience as far as my grad school. And I just wasn't good for me. I work at night, but so it's less calls, but it wasn't a good place for me at that point. And I got into it because I like being in lab. I like the stuff that I was learning. It was about the human body. I'm into pathology and things like that. But it doesn't go further than draw the blood, put the blood on the machine, give the results, and that's your day. You do that repetitively all day. So you do the same things all day. That's not what I'm really into. I'm really into advancing fields, advancing whatever field I decide to go into. And so I was just like, I want to apply to research physicians industry. I did not want to go back to academia just yet. Yeah, especially that was applying to industry physicians. And I eventually got one at the end of the year. And I was very happy seeing your scientists. That's awesome. Yeah. So what kind of work are you doing in your job now? We have clients, various pharmaceutical clients like Pfizer. You know, the big names are in the news right now. Ashes and things like that. And basically what we do is test things. Right now what I'm working on is whether or not antibodies produced through the various vaccines. So Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, will they be able to neutralize the virus in its variants, the coronavirus, SARS, CoV-2? Yes, it's very, so we just got a shipment of a whole bunch of variants. And right now we're running assays on that. So it's pretty cool. It's pretty, it's not full circle. It's more like a 180 right now, because I worked on the medical side of the pandemic and doing diagnostics stuff with, you know, COVID. And now I'm more so on the research side of vaccine development. And it's wild. I just never, I just never thought it would. Like I never thought my career would come to this. It's so weird. This is why I like being a bio major because you can be so multifaceted. Right. I mean, I don't know about any, I don't know about any of the degrees, because I don't know that I don't have those. Oh, for bio, I don't have to take business, I don't have to take chemistry, helic chemistry courses. And so I got my, when I was doing my master's, I was in microbiology. And now in sort of immunology, but I took immunology courses when I was in undergrad, all this is biomedical, um, didn't molecular work. Also, when I was doing my master's, so just a lot, you can, you can be put in so many places. And actually, one of the people I work under, he has his PhD. And he was just like, during your journey, you will be in many fields is possible for you to specialize in many things. And this is something way different than what I was told in undergrad, where they told me to do one thing, know what you want to do, and do that one thing. No, you can have many, I didn't know you can have many specializations. And so I'm working on like my second one right now, like I mean like three, molecular biology, microbiology, and biology have this for me. Y'all, if y'all listen and it is, like the immune system is so beautiful and so complex, you, especially if you learn the human immune system, you'd be like, oh, there's an answer for that, like, oh, so they just take it, your body can just take care of that. Just, oh, there's a cell for that. No, all right. So these cells just come right on end and they make these proteins and they just do this. And it's wild, okay. My favorite was biochemistry, honestly, but when I took biochemistry, my last semester, I believe that's when I understood organic chemistry, two years later, biochemistry and everything, especially if you're a molecular person and everything comes together, you have your physics, you understand why you have to take all these classes. If you learn the physics of like cells, like Ion's going in and out of cells or things like that. Yeah, oh my god, it sounds like it's okay. Yeah, learning, learning like like causes and gluconeogenesis. You were like, okay, now I know why I took all this. This is another memorizing those structures. And it's like why I have to know carbon has four bonds. So what's one short term future goal you have for yourself in one long term? And these could be personal or career related. The short term goals would include learning about informatics, so learning the code. And additionally, it would be developing my science communication platform, this large test, and also getting a promotion. Hopefully you didn't promote it. I've read some of my short term goals, and my long term goal would be to finish my PhD or like start over somewhere else. But if the long term goal will be the PhD, definitely. I wanted to learn in a lab that was studying the vaginal bio, the vaginal microbiome. And so a long my long-term goal is I want to contribute to the advancement of women's health and I want to combine the things that I love. So microbiology, STDs, I just say and I love STDs. I think it's wild that all the STDs are usually named after micro organism. And if you're outside of STEM, you're not thinking of it. Oh, Clamidia is like the name of the disease. No, it's the name of the the micro organism. Like, I don't mean it's the name of the micro organism. Yeah, it makes sense. When I found that, I actually found that out there on NETIX school and when I found that out, I was like, I want to learn about these things. I want to learn. I want to know what environments they grow in and how they communicate with other micro organisms. I just want to know about it and how they affect our health. We need it for sure. As a woman, we need it. Absolutely. Yeah, I want to learn more about myself. I want to know how the things that I'm born with works. Okay. I want to know. That is fair. So what are three pieces of advice you get to someone who wants to pursue a similar path as you? Three pieces of advice. Number one, know what you're doing. Know what you. Okay. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay. Know what you want to do. Okay. A large part that helped me get all the way here was that I wasn't. I knew I want to. I knew I wanted to buy you like I knew I wanted. I knew what field I wanted to be in. That's as well established before I went to undergrad that helps you. I graduated early, right? That helps you if you know what you're doing. If you don't know if you don't know what you want to do, I would advise you not to go to college and find out. That's college is not set like that no more. It's way too expensive to go. It used to be back probably when our parents were going. I know my dad said almost as you paid like $1,500 for the whole semester. And my daddy paid $100 for rent. So, yeah, you could just go to college with that. Wondering around, but it didn't feel like that no work. So if you're in high school, spend time figuring out what you like, figure it out, like pay attention in class and figure out, do you like this stuff? Like, what do you like learning about? Also, I'm just going to be real. I was a dance miner, right? But I knew like dancing wasn't going to make me no money. So when I spend take out loans and things like that to pursue that degree, when you it may be more profitable for you and you may gain a whole different experience, right? If you went straight into dancing, and that's something that you wanted to do like straight professionally. I don't know, my cousin major didn't dance. So she may have a different perspective and what what the benefits are for getting that type of degree in their probably benefits that I don't know about. She probably has a network of people that she probably wouldn't have gotten she didn't pursue that. But I'm just saying that it's more than just pursuing your passions at this point. It's more about this is a large financial burden that you're about to take on. You need to make that money back. So consider the fields in which you would make that money back that you're about to put in. I'm not saying don't pursue your passions. That's saying that I still have dreams of going on tour with like FK20s or Missy Elliott, you know. But I'm not saying don't pursue your passions. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying be smart about the economics of your passions or economics of what you want to do. Trade schools don't look down on trade schools at all. Okay. They will get you money. Yeah, without that. Like go ahead. Don't be ashamed. Go ahead. Give you a trade. If you don't know what you want to do in college. Go ahead. I went to a technical high school part time. And in that technical school, they had automotive class, cosmetics, nail technician, like these are things that people by the time they graduate high school, they can have real jobs that they got in high school, like the certifications they got. They have nursing certifications and stuff like that. Let's see. What's the second piece of advice? If you don't know something ask, don't be ashamed. Go find the information. It's not going to land in your lap. If as you're going through your journey, as you're going through college, because that's just the path that I went through, even if you want to like, I don't know, be a video job. What is a VJ? Whatever field that you want to go in. Ask questions. Find mentors. Twitter has a lot of people on it. Find the person that's in this space that you want to be in. Ask for mentorship and ask questions. Like, how did you get there? What did you do? I know for as far as my science communication, my inspiration, my work ethic, I guess, inspirations came from comedians. I was listening to a lot of comedian podcasts and how they like Hannibal Burris. He slept. He was homeless. He was homeless in New York. It just kept going at it. He was able to get to where he's at now. Of course, he wasn't that easy, but these are people like who? Childish Gambino before he is who he is now. He had things written in case somebody asked him for a script for a show. He had it already written. So some of the things that I was listening to help me prepare for things. I have things right now already written. What's it saying? Stay ready so you don't have to get ready. That's my second advice is to find mentorship and ask questions in my third. My third would be take breaks. Don't feel ashamed if you feel that you have to take a break in between getting degrees. It's okay. I would advise people to take breaks. There's a lot of things that you learn that if you go straight through academic academia, you don't learn. Of course, if you go straight through, you finish by the time you're 30 and you have your degrees, you can just start working. But if you work intermittently throughout, you come into grad school with already some experience with work. You know, you're worse. Not saying that they don't know their worth is they went straight through. But you just know the other side of things. Like, oh, this is not right. Like you know what's not right. Academia is academia is not necessarily a picture of the real world. Like when you go to work, like you have an HR. You can put in here too. You get paid vacation and you can go get a new job. Like in academia, you can put in your two weeks and join another lab. Like that's not how it works. So take your breaks. Take your breaks for your mental health. Take your breaks just because like just because you want to wow out. You just want to have fun. Take your breaks. I went to so many. I met so many people. I went to I saw Kate Cutty three times. I looked at L.A. I slept in a desert. It saw a child's game being in a concert in a desert. That's so much fun. And I gained a game back some fun that I missed out on when I was in undergrad. I also gained some professional experience. So yeah, three, those are the three. So know what you doing. No, do I ask for mentorship? It asks questions. And if there is take your breaks. Take your breaks. Take your breaks. Take your breaks. Yes, all good advice, especially since like when you think about it, we're in school for 90% of our lives. And when you finally finish, you have a little freedom. So I think it's okay to enjoy that before you dive back into your education. So yes, I'm a big proponent of taking time off from school to work for a little bit and live in the real world and get that experience. And yes, find out your worth. Find out how things actually work outside of academia before you go back in. So yes, I wholeheartedly agree with that. Yes. And plus, if you get like no part of the first advice, like knowing what you want to do, a message degree will get you far in industry. It will get you so far. Some of my managers don't even have a graduate degree. They have managers. They sit up there, design an experiment, talking to clients and managing people, which is something that you don't learn in grad school as far as you don't even learn how to teach. It's crazy. Yeah, I feel like that comes with life. Yeah, dealing with other people, it's the soft skills that you learn. If you go straight into the job, like there's a lot of soft skills that you kind of don't really learn if you go straight through. But yeah, take them breaks, take them breaks girl, if you think about it, take the break. You get money, you get money on your break, you know what I'm saying, you can take that break in case you would dream it about. Well, that was all the questions I had for you today. If you're willing, would you mind sharing either your social media information or your email for anyone who wants to get in contact with you with questions? So on Twitter, my Twitter name is Fly, F-L-Y-L-I, Science 1, because I couldn't get Fly Science. My Instagram is Fly, Science without the one, and my Gmail is Fly, [email protected]. Awesome, is there anything else you'd like to add? Yeah, if you're listening to this and you have any science topics that you'd like for me to discuss, my platform kind of mixes popular culture with science, and so there's anything that you're just like, I want this to be discussed, email me, email me. I'd be happy to do a deep dive and produce a video on that topic. Coming up, I'll have a topic on what TI said about boosting your immune system, and how he doesn't wear masks because he chooses not to live in fear, and he drinks tea which protects him from COVID. And that's, yeah. The accuracy will let me tell you, can you please do me a good word? Yeah, and I have an actual medical doctor on there, so yeah, we're going to debunk this. Well, thank you the time, thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. This was such a fun conversation, and I appreciate how honest and real you were, so once again, oh, anytime, anytime, go for it! Well there you have it guys, thank you for tuning into another episode of Black In Science. I'd like to once again thank Brianna for taking the time to speak with me today. If you're interested in checking out fly science, feel free to follow the platform's Twitter and Instagram pages, and subscribe to their YouTube channel. I'll be sure to leave the info for each in the episodes description. If you're interested in staying up to date with the latest Black In Science content, feel free to follow us on Twitter @podcast_bis and on Instagram @blackinsigns, while we're posting regular updates on the release of new episodes every other Monday. Lastly, if you're interested in participating as a guest on the show, just send me an email at bis [email protected]. Thanks again for all of your love and support, and I'll talk to you guys in the next one! [Music]