This school year, The GradPost at UCSB is pleased to kick off our "A Day in the Life" series with one of our students from the Life Sciences department, Jacob Torres. Please read on to gain a little more insight into what goes into "A Day in the Life" of a father of two and STEM graduate student here at UCSB.
A Day in the Life
Name: Jacob Alexander Torres
Discipline / Emphasis: Cellular and Molecular Biology
Research Interests / Goals:
"My interests are so broad and I enjoy science so much that as long as I am given a project and a defined goal to accomplish I will be content. For right now, I am working with animals studying polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in Thomas Weimbs’ lab. Apart from my current work on PKD my own scientific goals include gaining as much insight and knowledge from across the scientific spectrum. My continual pursuit of knowledge is a lifelong goal and being able to pursue my own scientific endeavors would be my ultimate objective."
GradPost: “What’s it like enduring the grind of being a graduate student and a parent for you?”
"First off, I wouldn’t call graduate school a “grind” but rather an experience. Being a parent has its challenges in and of itself and compounded with graduate school it can be difficult to find time for research and family. I have been able to use my family life as a way to keep myself grounded, allowing me to be able to separate my graduate school experience from my parenting responsibilities. When my research is progressing slowly I know that there are other areas of my life that I can rely on to be a source of inspiration and encouragement."
GradPost: “What’s been a source for motivation and / or drive for you?”
"I have drawn the most motivation from both of my children and from my brother. Each of them has given me a new perspective that I could not have gained in any other way. My outlook on life hasn’t always been the most positive or optimistic yet through them I have been given insight into myself. They have allowed me to grow into who I am today keeping me on the correct trajectory for the future."
GradPost: “Name the accomplishment you are most proud of, and why.”
"My most valued accomplishment has culminated in me having the opportunity to answer this question. Being accepted to graduate school was an important milestone in my life. I am the first in my family to receive a college degree and will be the first to receive my PhD (cross my fingers). Growing up I was raised by very intelligent parents yet neither of them had a desire for higher education for me or themselves. Moving away from home to create my own dream has been quite an empowering and simultaneously humbling experience. I am most proud of who I am now because I have been able to create my own identity; apart from what my parents or family believed I should do or who I should have become. Forging my way into the world has been a difficult and sometimes gut-wrenching process but has created the person I am today."
GradPost: “What makes you, you?”
"There are a few things that really define who I am. First I have my attributes that make me want to become a great scientist such as my objectivity (to a fault some might say), being analytical along with my persistence and tenacity. Then there is another side of me that always wants to better myself in as many ways as possible. Fortunately for me these two sides complement each other well. My objectivity allows me to question my own behavior opening the door for introspection. At the same time this gives me an opportunity to analyze myself to how I can improve in the future. This routine has become more balanced the older and more experienced I have become; I haven’t always been so open to my own thoughts and that shows me that there is still a lot of room left for improvement."
GradPost: “Where did you grow up?”
"I grew up in southern California in the Coachella Valley. Most people only know of the Coachella Valley because of Palm Springs but now my home town Indio has become quite popular because of the Coachella Valley Music Festival. People now love that there is a huge festival there, but I will always think of it as “the desert”."
GradPost: “What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?”
"I wouldn’t call anything I do pleasurable “guilty”. Being guilty just takes all the pleasure out of it. However, I have been known to play Civilization on the computer for days on end when given the opportunity to. I also immensely enjoy sugar, but who doesn’t?"
GradPost: “What’s playing in your iPod right now?”
"The music I listen to is focused on just making me feel good. As of lately it has been mostly Passion Pit, Phoenix, Miike Snow and Foster the People that have been bringing joy to my workdays."
GradPost: “Any advice or final thoughts?”
"In terms of the graduate school experience, I would tell new graduate students to not believe what others tell them the graduate school experience is or has to be. I find it very common for people to tell me how stressed I should be, how difficult grad school is, how experiments never work, how I shouldn’t have time for myself and multitude of opinions to the same effect. I personally find those comments detrimental to my well being and my overall performance. In my experience people will use the preconceived idea of graduate school as being hard, time-consuming, arduous or stressful as excuses for their own behavior or shortcomings outside of school. Creating my own vision of graduate school allows me to create more opportunities to enjoy myself through my research, association with people on campus as well as enjoying the Santa Barbara area. I always keep in my mind and close to my heart that I am truly blessed to have the opportunity that has been presented to me. When others try to influence my perspective in an attempt to throw me off track from what I know to be my reality, it can make life difficult when it wasn’t difficult at all to begin with. Keeping a positive view on the world makes accomplishing great things possible and makes the experience fun at the same time. Just remembering to be yourself and keeping what you value most at the center of your conscious experience will always yield great dividends and happiness."
GradPost: We would like to thank Jacob for taking time to share with us a little of what his life as a gradaute student entails. Yes, our students live very diverse lives outside of campus, just as we experience a great deal of cultural diversity on campus. "A Day in the Life" is proud to help provide the content to bridge the two worlds for our graduate student population.