Teaching our kids that bumps in the road doesn't mean that is the road you should travel

Last night, I got a frantic voice mail from one of my mentees. They were having an issue with a college, which was a pretty major issue, but wasn't one that couldn't be resolved; however the student felt that it couldn't and wouldn't be. As I was talking to him and providing solutions to him to resolve this issue, I wondered, how many people don't pursue STEM careers because of bumps in the road in there pursuit of that career path. For those of us who have STEM degrees or career paths, we have experience bumps in the road while getting our degrees and on our jobs may you say maybe I should be an English major or give my boss my two weeks notice. But the key to us staying on the path is we didn't see that set back or bump as a sign that we should not get our degree and graduate or keep our job, but as sign that we may need to ask for help or do something differently than what we were currently doing to achieve our desired results.

So as we as STEM professionals, reflect on the bumps in our career path and how we were able to overcome the obstacles, problems and times where we felt that life would be easier if I wasn't a stem major or professional. Let's teach those behind us the lessons that we have learned from experience and/or our mentors. Just like when we are walking or driving down a street that has cracks and/or potholes and we either trip or feel the wear and tear on our car, but we keep walking or driving on the road. We tell the students behind us, just because you may fail a test, mess up an experiment or feel like on your internship you aren't producing at the level your mentor expects, doesn't mean that you aren't meant to be a stem major and professional. It means that you need to try a little harder, do something different or seek help from someone that is a few stages ahead of you in the game.