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You are not alone series: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

10/1/2015

By Yue Liu

Dr. Weigang Qiu, an Associate Professor of Bioinformatics at Hunter College, CUNY, shares his experiences of adjusting to a new culture when he moved to the US from China in 1993. As a graduate student at Stony Brook University, SUNY, he found the cultural transition quite challenging. The main reason was the language barrier. He could read Sherlock Holmes and research papers without a dictionary, but he couldn’t understand headlines in The New York Times. With no clue about celebrities, pop music, TV shows, movies, or current events in America, he struggled with conversational English and social events.

Realizing the problems and following the advice of a fellow graduate student, he subscribed to The New York Times, The Economist, News Week, and National Geographic. Immersion in daily reading not only helped relieve his loneliness, but also made him more knowledgeable about the US culture. He also consciously made time for daily conversation and socializing with native English speakers.

“The mentality to get out of your comfort zone and set time for socializing is crucial in breaking the shell that capsulizes you,” says Dr. Qiu. While many international students can perform well academically, some do not realize the importance of interacting with people. The people around you have valuable experiences and resources to share—the social and historical context of their professional work is not written in any textbook. Human beings are social animals: interacting with each other can build networks, strengthen communication skills, and release anxiety and stress. To crack open the insulating shell, one way is to be more adventurous and curious about new cultural experiences.

The Internet: a blessing and a curse. Dr. Qiu notices a serious impediment to social integration for younger generations of international students: the easy access to media in their native languages. It is rare to see international students read news from traditional media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, or The Wall Street Journal—all of these can offer in-depth coverage and professional analysis of current events. Even fewer students keep at hand a copy of The New York Times best-sellers (fiction or non-fiction) for leisure reading. “You will find these books not only entertaining and informative, but also highly enlightening and rewarding.” Dr. Qiu recommends.

It is unquestionable that the Internet makes the new generation of international students more familiar with American pop culture prior to arriving in the US. Paradoxically, the Internet also becomes a barrier to experiencing the US society firsthand after their arrival. People use cell phones to instantly check posts from friends, news about their admired celebrities, and current hot topics, all in their native languages and through home-country media outlets. Dr. Qiu regards this both a blessing and a curse. Instant and constant connection to their home countries makes people feel less nostalgic and isolated. Therefore, the Internet becomes a cultural umbilical cord hard to cut. However, they also feel less motivated to reach out for face-to-face interactions and to acculturate themselves.

Even after living more than twenty years in the US, Dr. Qiu and his wife still work to improve their English pronunciation. (He highly recommends the book Mastering the American Accent by Lisa Mojsin.) The reason is simple: no matter how brilliant and humorous you are, if you have a strong accent, it will be very difficult for others to understand you.

“For international students, investing time and energy in cultural understandings is not opposed to career development. In the long run, cultural integration is a necessity and an asset for professional success. Plus, it’s fun and enlightening to bridge the gaps (and, sometimes, to reduce the hostility) between the cultures. To get started, wean yourself from reading news in your native language for a day, if not a week, a month, or a year.”
- Weigang Qiu

Special thanks to Dr. Weigang Qiu for sharing his experiences.

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From String to Strand

9/9/2015

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By Jordana Lovett (edited by Tessa Barrett and Gayathri Raghupathy)

Ask a molecular biologist what image DNA conjures up in the mind. A convoluted ladder of nitrogenous bases, twisting and coiling dynamically. Pose the very same question to a theoretical physicist, chances are that DNA takes on a completely different meaning. As it turns out, DNA is in the eye of the beholder. Science is about perspective. Moreover, it relies on the convergence of distinct, yet interrelated angles to tackle scientific questions wholly.

When I met Dr. Vijay Kumar at a Cancer Immunotherapy meeting, I was immediately intrigued by his unique background and path to biology. Vijay largely credits his family for strongly instilling in him core values of education and assiduousness. He was raised to strive for the best, and was driven to satisfy the goals of his parents, who encouraged him to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. While slightly resentful at the time, he now realizes that this broad degree would afford him multiple career options as well as the opportunity to branch into other fields of physics in the future.

As early as his teenage years, Vijay had already begun thinking about the interesting unknowns of the natural universe. With his blinders on, he sought to explore them using physics and math, both theoretically and practically. As he advanced to university in pursuance of a degree in electrical engineering, he strategized and planned what would be his future transition into theoretical physics. He dabbled in various summer research projects and sought mentorship to help guide his career. Vijay ultimately applied and was accepted to a PhD program at MIT, where he studied string theory in a 6-dimensional model universe. He describes string theory as a broad framework rather than a theory that can be related to the world through ‘thought experiments’ and mathematical consistency. Vijay continued his work in string theory during a post-doc in Santa Barbara, California, where he found himself surrounded by a more diverse group of physicists. Theoretical physicists, astrophysicists, and biophysicists were able to intermingle and share their science.

This diversity spurred new perspectives and reconsideration of what he had originally thought would be a clear road to professorship and a career in academia. As one would imagine, the broader impacts of string theory are limited; the ideas are part of a specialized pool of knowledge available to an elite handful. Even among the few competition was fierce, at the time there were only two available openings for professors in string theory in the United States. Additionally, seeing the need and presence of ‘quantitative people’ in other fields, such as biology made him increasingly curious about alternatives to the automated choices he had been making until this point. With the support of his (now) wife, and inspiration from his brother (who had just completed a degree in statistics/informatics and started a PhD in biology), he networked with other post-docs and set up meetings with principle investigators (PI’s) to discuss how he, as a theoretical physicist, could play a role in a biological setting. He spent time during his post-doc in Santa Barbara, and throughout his second post-doc at Stony Brook reflecting, taking courses and shifting into a different mindset. Vijay interviewed and gave talks at a number of institutions, and eventually landed in lab at Cold Spring Harbor, where he now is involved in addressing some of the shortcomings in DNA sequencing technology.

Starting in a different lab within the confines of a field means readjusting to brand new settings, acquainting with new lab mates and shifting from one narrowly focused project to another. Launching not only into a new lab, but into a foreign field adds an extra unsettling and daunting layer to the scenario. Vijay, however, viewed this as yet another opportunity to uncover mysteries in nature - through a new perspective. He recognized an interplay between string theory, wherein the vibration of strings allows you to make predictions about the universe, and biology, where the raw sequence of DNA can inform the makeup of an organism, and its interactions with the world. It is with this viewpoint that Vijay understands DNA. He sees it as an abstraction, as a sequence of letters that allows you to draw inferences and predict biological outcomes. A change or deletion in just one letter can have enormous, tangible effects. It is this tangibility that speaks to Vijay. He is drawn to the application and broader consequences of the work he is doing, and excited that he can use his expertise to contribute to this knowledge.

While approaching a radically different field can impose obstacles, Vijay sees common challenges in both physics and biology and simply avoids getting lost in scientific translation. Just as theory has a language, so too biology has its own jargon. Once past this barrier, addressing gaps in knowledge becomes part of the common scientific core. Biology enables a question to be answered through various assays and allows observable results to guide future experiments- expertise in various subjects is therefore not only encouraged, but necessary. Collaborations between different labs across various disciplines enable painting a complete picture. “I’m a small piece of a larger puzzle, and that’s ok”, says Vijay. His insight into how scientists ought to work is admirable. Sharing and communicating data in a way that is comprehendible across the scientific playing field will more quickly and efficiently allow for scientific progress.

If I’ve learned one thing from Vijay’s story, it is to understand that science has room for multiple perspectives. In fact, it demands questions to be addressed in an interdisciplinary fashion. You might question yourself along the way. You might shift gears, change directions. But these unique paths mold the mind to perceive, ask, challenge, and contribute in a manner that no one else can.

Many thanks to Dr.Vijay Kumar for sharing his experiences with me for this article.

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You Are Not Alone Series: Lack of Public Speaking Training… or, Grandma to the Rescue

8/1/2015

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By Yue Liu

Due to language barrier, many international students and post-doctoral fellows cringe at the thought of public speaking. However, in the movie The King's Speech, King George VI, a stuttering sovereign, overcame his stammering condition and successfully made his first wartime radio broadcast. His experience tells us: persistence in practice is the pathway to success.

Americans have been trained to express themselves with comfort and confidence since kindergarten. On the contrary, the lack of public speaking training imposes threats to the advancement of many international students’ graduate study and career development. Especially for international scientists, the intensive bench work makes receiving public speaking training almost impossible. Therefore, presenting research in an engaging manner is a constant challenge for them. In contrast, their admirable American peers can give brilliant talks about their research even when the results do not concur with the proposed hypothesis. The reality is, no matter what career path you pursue in the future, the skill to give a clear and accessible presentation is essential.

When I realized my problem in public speaking, I felt aimless and desperate until I finally joined a public speaking club, recommended by my friend (the cute girl who ordered ‘cauliflower’ by saying ‘albino broccoli’ to the waiter in the first blog of this series (see our first blog). The name of the club is Toastmasters International (https://www.toastmasters.org/). The meeting we went to was at Hunter College. The meeting was organized by a Toastmaster, the host. The Toastmaster sets up a theme and introduces different speakers and evaluators with fun transitions related to the theme. There are three sections of a meeting: prepared speeches, table topics, and evaluations. The prepared speeches are delivered by well-prepared and passionate club members. The table topics section is a series of impromptu speeches. A participant comes up to the stage, and the Topics Master throws a question. At the end of each meeting, there is an evaluation section and each prepared speech is evaluated in an encouraging and stimulating way.

As a welcomed guest, I was volunteered by others to participate in the table topics, although I had no idea what I should do and felt frightened in front of all those strangers. The theme of the evening was “Hero,” and the question was “Who is your hero and why?” I fumbled through my memory storage system and felt terrified that there was nothing I could come up with at that moment. My body was frozen, my blood was burning, and my heart was jumping to my throat. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and thought about my grandma, who has remained a comfort and inspiration to me, even though she passed away many years ago. Right! She is my hero! She is someone I continue to love and admire so much. I opened my eyes, relaxed my body, and told some stories about my dearest grandma sharing food with others during the Great Chinese Famine in the 1960s. She was always courageous, generous, and kind. Her experiences and actions shaped who I am, with all her kindness and virtuousness running in my blood. As I reminisced, I almost forgot I was on the stage. My emotional memories brought my grandma to life for the audience at that moment. Therefore, I received a very big applause, which really built up my confidence. My friend told me she almost cried when she heard my grandma’s body was swollen due to the lack of protein during the Famine. This experience tells me that I am more comfortable if I talk about someone I love, something I am familiar with, or a topic that has grabbed my passion.

Attracted by the friendly and passionate atmosphere, I joined the club and received two basic manuals. One is the Competent Communication manual, which focuses on learning and practicing speech skills, such as the organization of a speech, the use of body language, and vocal variety. The other is the Competent Leadership manual, which includes different tasks and responsibilities to develop leadership skills, such as evaluating other people’s speeches, being a Toastmaster, and mentoring a new member. Upon completion of each manual, a corresponding award is granted, and there are more advanced manuals to help continue one’s improvement afterwards. Since I began the adventure of improving my public speaking and leadership skills at the Hunter Toastmasters club (http://huntertoastmasters.org/), I have given six prepared speeches, participated in a debate tournament, organized a meeting as a Toastmaster, led table topics as a Topics Master, and evaluated three speeches. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined being able to find the courage to do all these things a year ago.

Since I became a member of the club, I have heard about many hilarious experiences, touching stories, and inspiring speeches. I have met great people who are so energetic and encouraging. For example, Junior Baptiste, the President of the Hunter Toastmasters, felt painfully anxious at the thought of performing in front of a large audience when he was in high school. However, his passion for poetry helped him build confidence in front of the audience when he performed at talent shows. Afterwards, he took classes such as Argument and Debate and Public Speaking in college, which led him to where he is now. Junior told me, “…the audiences are almost always supportive.., and the fears that we experience … are nothing other than negative stories our mind creates.” I also met a member of Toastmasters International from Canada, Marie Betteley. Marie has been visiting different clubs in NYC, Paris, and Moscow when she travels around the world. These experiences have opened up new horizons for her. She has met many international friends with the same goal-- building self-confidence through developing leadership and public speaking skills.

Now, going to the club has become part of my life. Strong friendships have been established among the club members. When I need help, I know I am not alone and I am learning every day. Although the change we seek always requires great courage, it is never too late to improve.

Many special thanks to Junior Baptiste and Marie Betteley for sharing their experiences with me for this article.

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You are not alone series: Breaking the Language Barrier…or, the Problems with Penguins

7/16/2015

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By Yue Liu

For the majority of international students, the biggest challenge is definitely the language barrier, which affects both academic progress and daily communication. For example, Magdalena Kiprowska (Country of Origin: Poland), a doctoral candidate at The City University of New York (CUNY), had to spend more time and effort to do well in graduate study compared to her peers who are native English speakers. As a senior Ph.D. student, Magdalena keeps a balance between doing bench work and advancing her knowledge through reading scientific articles and attending conferences in her field. In addition, she manages to attend relevant seminars and workshops whenever possible. The strategy she used to learn English was repetition, and more repetition, and then even more repetition; a lot of reading, talking, explaining to herself out loud, and presenting to diverse audiences.

As for me (Country of Origin: China), I struggle most in daily communication. The vocabulary words I memorized for the GRE are rarely used in daily life. Therefore, embarrassment, confusion, and misunderstanding are constantly haunting me whenever I deal with conversational English. One day, my friend and I were talking about food, and I wanted to say that some Chinese people eat “pigeons,” but instead, I said “penguins.”

My friend was stunned. With eyes widely open, he said, “What!!?? You guys even eat penguins???”

            I said, “I know they are cute, but they are delicious to some people.”

            “But, are there penguins in China?”

            This time it was me who was stunned, and I replied, “Of course, there are penguins everywhere…!”

            “Everywhere? But…how?” He still looked puzzled.

            “Penguins can fly to every corner of the world!” I shrugged my shoulders.

            “What? Penguins can fly!!??” At this point he was shouting and probably doubted whether we belonged to the same planet.

            I nodded and was very puzzled that someone doubted a bird could fly.

            He became speechless and googled a penguin’s image to show me… I scratched my head and stuttered, “Um…, I mean ‘pigeons’…”

There have been many silly moments like this in my life since I came to New York City and I know I am not alone. A friend of mine wanted to order cauliflower in a restaurant, but instead of saying “cauliflower,” she said very elegantly, “Excuse me, sir, I would like some ‘albino broccoli’ please, thank you!”

The President and Co-founder of INET NYC Mike Veenstra (Country of origin: The Netherlands), a doctoral candidate at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, shared his way of improving his English. Because he did not have many Dutch friends around, he mostly just talked with American friends and colleagues. He was forced to only speak in English and tried to watch TV and movies without captions.

How about you, my friends? Do you have these funny experiences about the misuse or misinterpretation of the English language? If you feel embarrassed about them, remember that we learn and grow through making mistakes. A good sense of humor also helps.

“There are many people that went through the same thing as you are going through now. Everyone made it out, and came to be something great after. If you struggle, find someone that went through the same and is successful now. Just talk to people, you will see how willing people are to help you overcome your struggles.”
- Mike Veenstra

Many special thanks to Magdalena Kiprowska and Mike Veenstra for sharing their experiences with me for this article.

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Forward>>

You are not alone series: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

From String to Strand

You Are Not Alone Series: Lack of Public Speaking Training… or, Grandma to the Rescue

You are not alone series: Breaking the Language Barrier…or, the Problems with Penguins

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