When I was in college I was determined about two things: I
was not going to have children and I was not going to be teacher. That’s it. I
had countless discussions with my friends about my decision. And, actually,
sometimes I did not discuss it at all, the decision was taken and nothing would
change it! On the other hand, I really did not have a “plan” for my career, I
had “thoughts”: I was curious about working in R&D at a big tech company,
most likely a pharmaceutical company as I thought of after I started graduate
school. Fast forward to today, things have flipped by 180o: I have
three little kids that are my greatest joy and I am physics teacher (and have
not done yet R&D). Wow! Did things change!!! Even more, I never imagined I
will be leaving in, Omaha, NE, the heartland of America!
A series of decisions in my life threaded the path that
brought me to Creighton and I feel so glad about it; well, I feel glad only 99.9%
of the days as I always have room for doubts in my life. When I started college, back in my home country, the goal of
anyone majoring in physics was to leave the country to pursue graduate studies.
So, that is what I did. And among the
options I had, I applied to a university
in the Netherlands where
I was accepted. I, of course, had never thought in my life about living the
Dutch adventure but the door was open and I could not miss that one. My husband
and I embarked into our new life and together we enjoyed fietsen naar de stad om haring met ui te eten and also the Dutch
way to live a life. When I was finishing graduate school I was looking for
R&D positions in the Netherlands (plan A) but nothing came up so I shifted
to look for research positions in the USA (plan B, I also had plan C, plan D,
plan E…).
Coming to the United States of America. Not really the
country I had at the greatest esteem at that time. But I interviewed at few
universities and people were so nice to me, the options to do research were
concrete and feasible and even though the geography was all new to me I got the
feeling I could handle it. I got the impression that somehow I could be part of
the landscape. So I accepted a postdoctoral
position in Santa Barbara, CA.
That was beautiful, even though the beach actually did not compare to the
nicest beaches I had visited before, the mountains did not compare to those
that I loved the most, the architecture was not as impressive as real Spanish
colonial style. Nonetheless, the magic of the town reached out deeply my heart:
I now can evoke the smells, the pleasant atmosphere, the music, the sounds, the
scenic views. Back then, out of nothing, one day at the beach it came to my
mind for the first time in many years that I could perhaps have a child. And
that happened. And, with my baby in my belly, a new feeling arose: I needed to
settle down and, for that, I needed a more stable job.
I was, therefore, in the job hunting race. I was undecided
on which way to go until I attended a workshop on teaching and research at
primarily undergraduate institutions. I swear I attended the workshop out of
curiosity, without any other purpose. And the whole perspective just clicked on
me: In the US, I could work at a college, similar to mine in my home country, doing
teaching (yes, after years of introspection I had to admit my soul was that of
a teacher) and doing research (fills me with the greatest intellectual joy).
And have time for my family. Fantastic! It looked so appealing and seemed to
fit on me. So I did my homework on getting to know the world of academia in the
US and how to get a job there. When I received the phone call from Creighton
for a one-year faculty position I first needed to think, where is Omaha in the
US map? And then, together with my husband, we thought one year in the Midwest would
not hurt, the position would give me good job experience and then we could
relocate (again). So, we came to Omaha. Well, five years and two more kids later,
we are still here. And I feel content.
How long are we going to stay here? Who knows, forever
maybe. Have I changed my perception of the US? Yes, and now I have it at a
great, but critical, esteem. Am I part of the landscape? Most of the time, but
not always. Do I handle the geography? Much better now, with room for
improvement. I keep myself as competitive as I can in the midst of the daily
struggles of a teacher-scientist mom. As long as I can see the smile of my kids
without looking at them and I can appreciate the progress of my students
without using metrics, I know this is my place. Still, I hope to see if a door
opens and I expect to have the wisdom to decide whether I will go through it.
Kindly,
Dr. Patricia Soto
Assistant Professor of Physics
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