NEWS

Go Grant, InSciTE help neuroscience student shape future

Speaker series gives students with advice on careers, work-life balance

A man with gray hair and glasses and wearing a blue suitcoat talks to a young woman with long hair and a sweater in front of a screen with Integration of Science Technology and Engineering written on it. — Morgan Mussehl, a neuroscience student who also earned her InSciTE certificate, talks to one of the participants in a speaker series she created using money from a Go Grant.

A Centralis scholarship brought Morgan Mussehl to Central Michigan University to study neuroscience, but it was through a certificate program that she left her mark.

While working towards her degree, she joined the first InScitTE cohort. During her final year in the program, she applied for, and received, money from the inaugural round of Go Grants.

Centralis made it possible for Mussehl to pursue a bachelor’s in neuroscience, but InSciTE and the Go Grant helped her flesh out her future.

“Through InSciTE and the Go Grant, I figured out who I was,” she said.

A young smiling woman wearing a sweater with horizontal stripes is recorded on a video camera the screen for which is in the foreground — Mussehl said that the experiences of creating the speaker series with money from a Go Grant helped her figure out who she is.

Mussehl—one of four students to receive Go Grant funding—used her $10,000 Go Grant to create a speaker series aimed at students in the College of Science and Engineering.

The 17 speakers weren’t chosen solely for their inspiring careers. They were chosen because students in the college wanted to know about careers, life and answers to questions that aren’t asked.

One was a chemistry faculty member from a different university. She spent a considerable amount of her time talking about the realities of imposter syndrome. The topic resonated, Mussehl said.

“That’s definitely a topic that people don’t talk about but exists,” she said.

The speakers came from a variety of backgrounds, from academia to medical professionals to scientists working in industry.

They shared their own personal career paths, talked about unique challenges rooted in their personal backgrounds, and discussed how to balance the rigors of difficult academic topics with maintaining hobbies important to them.

One speaker talked about the practical decisions involved in choosing whether to pursue a doctorate or spend the extra money to earn a medical doctor’s license. The idea was to help students with an eye on tight finances reach big goals and make more informed decisions.

After each session, smaller groups of students with a connection to the speaker were invited to a more intimate gathering for a more personalized interaction. It allowed the speaker to open up about family, hobbies and their love for their children.

“It made that person more real,” she said.

Building the speaker series was also a formative learning experience for Mussehl. It also helped her find a passion for mentoring, which she plans to pursue during a career in academia.

The speaker series provided her with an opportunity to practice mentoring. While developing it, Mussehl shared its framework with fellow InSciTE student Lucille Noblis. In April, President Neil MacKinnon announced that Noblis was awarded Go Grant funding as a Keep Going Grant.