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When students earn a degree from 袀鼻蹤獲���s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, they emerge with unique skills that employers seek along with the ability to acquire new ones, setting them up for long-term career growth.
Ashni Mathuria (DC 2023), Michael Granovetter (DC 2022) and Arianna Rosario (DC 2023) are just a few Dietrich College graduates who share reflections on the value of their CMU experience and their next steps.
Pursuing Non-fiction in Academia
After graduating this past spring from the Department of English with a degree in creative writing and an additional major in technical writing, Mathuria plans to pursue a master���s degree in creative writing at Columbia University, focusing her work on non-fiction.
The English Department helped her to develop a combination of critical creative thinking and knowledge of rhetoric expertise, which has shaped her into a more polished and thoughtful writer. Her work as a communication support consultant with the Student Academic Success Center for three years also played a large role in her growth.
���Classes such as ���Style��� were really impactful to me,��� Mathuria said. ���Not just for practicality, but so that I could really learn what writing is and approach it as a form of information management.���
Outside the classroom, Mathuria was busy dancing with CMU Bhangra, competing with women���s club volleyball and editing for , Carnegie Mellon���s premier literary-arts journal.
Mathuria���s schedule could sometimes turn into an elaborate balancing act, but she explained how it taught her the importance of staying grounded and seeking support when she needed it.
���My greatest advice for CMU students is to take care of yourself and offer yourself compassion,��� Mathuria said.
Training for a Future in Medicine
Granovetter earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Psychology in 2022 and is continuing his education through the Medical Scientist Training Program, a highly selective program in which candidates complete their first two years of medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, attend CMU to earn a Ph.D. and return to Pitt for their last two years of medical school.
Granovetter���s research at 袀鼻蹤獲 largely focused on how pediatric brain surgeries, specifically ones involving the removal of the right or left hemisphere, could impact child development and cognitive ability.
���This research moves us one step further toward enabling us to give more concrete guidance to patients and their parents about the effects on cognitive abilities after brain surgery,��� Granovetter said. ���There���s still more work to be done.���
During his time at Dietrich College, Granovetter had the opportunity to be a teaching assistant for the Biological Foundations of Behavior course and a mentor for undergraduates within the Department of Psychology. He also shared information on medical school and doctorate programs with undergraduate students and helped to host a free, educational webinar in coordination with the American Physician Scientists Association.
���Nobody���s graduate school experience will look exactly the same,��� Granovetter said. ���It���s important to remember that if you come in with a vision of what you want to get out of graduate school, then you���ll have the flexibility to tailor your graduate school experiences for what comes next.���
Engaging and Educating the Public
This past spring, Rosario, a recent graduate of the Department of Social and Decision Sciences with a double major in decision science and policy and management, had an internship with the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium. She has since transitioned to a full-time position with the organization.
Although she didn���t take biological science courses, the empirical research and data collection skills Rosario learned through Dietrich College���s curriculum helped her obtain her current position.
���As a keeper, I am constantly speaking with the public, which is a mixed group of both adults and children,��� Rosario said. ���In any course I took at 袀鼻蹤獲 where I had to present in front of the class, I learned how to constantly consider my audience and pace myself while talking.���
Rosario was also a teaching assistant for the courses Negotiation and Causal Inference in the Field. Outside of the classroom, Rosario was the captain of CMU���s women���s varsity volleyball team where she says she���s made unbreakable bonds with her teammates.
���Your grades are important, but the relationships you make with people, your professors and peers, really matter,��� she said. ���You also have to get your head out of the books sometimes and just enjoy yourself.���