Achieving work-life balance seems to be a constant struggle for anyone in the workforce. For college students, finding a balance between work, family responsibilities and financial constraints leaves little room to build career-related skills through extracurricular activities in addition to regular coursework. How can we remove this barrier where students do not feel as though they have to choose between their life now and their future career?
Kristine Washburn is a professor of physics and advisor for the rocketry team, and she has figured out a solution for her students at Everett Community College. Utilizing Space Grant Funds, Kristine leads a team of instructors implementing a program where STEM students are able to learn both the collaborative and technical skills for their desired field while receiving a stipend for their work on projects. Ultimately, increasing student involvement by creating a space where students can enhance their resume in a supported and sustainable way.
Chris Kimball (they/them)
Chris Kimball is a student at Everett Community College with a strong interest in computer science and cybersecurity.
Through their studentship, Chris is involved with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) project under Computer Information Systems faculty, Dennis Skarr. Chris’s main focus in the project is to educate people about potential security vulnerabilities and ethics surrounding the use of AI.
Chris’ involvement in this opportunity allowed them to work alongside a team and engage in a project where they were able to apply skills from previous course work. The environment itself created an enjoyable learning experience where they were able to explore more of their interests and skills to bring with them in their career.
In their free time, they enjoy recycling electronics by breaking down the components and creating new things from utility circuits that monitor the amount of power their devices use to electric motor car controllers! You can see one of the circuits they are currently working in the photo above.
River Stormo (he/him)
River is a mechanical engineering student at Everett Community College with a special interest in advanced manufacturing, computer-aided design (CAD), and mechatronics. For his studentship, he is currently working to create a mold for a 9.5ft tall carbon fiber rocket for the Everett Community College rocketry team. The rocket is planned to launch at an International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) competition in early June! This studentship opportunity has made it so he is able to dive deeper in mold making and explore it more as a possibility for future careers.
Post-graduation, River plans to find his career in engineering tooling and fixturing, and now mold making, specifically in the aerospace field.
Through this program, students are provided with a stipend to offset living expenses so they can meaningfully engage in experiential learning opportunities they are excited about. Hands-on STEM experience is a crucial resume point employers look for when recruiting for new positions. While there are many other factors to preparing students for the workforce, the studentship program relieves a bit of the stress and burnout from students’ lives by creating an enjoyable learning environment and giving students access to mentorship and experience that clearly aligns with student career goals.
Written by Alexandra Walters