What's The Word? Eagle Alumni Spotlight Podcast: Katlyn Lima

Start of Episode Transcript:

Owen
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to What's the Word. I'm your host Owen Smith, and today I'm with Katlyn. Thank you, Katlyn, for joining me today for an interview.

Katlyn
Thank you.

Owen
So, to start off, would you be able to tell me a little bit about yourself?

Katlyn
So, while I was at Embry Riddle, I majored in forensic biology and minored in securities and intelligence at the Prescott campus. I'm currently a full-time student at Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, studying nonproliferation and terrorism with the language in Russian. So that's just kind of my life currently.

Owen
Wow. So have you drawn any comparison, or is being a student out there quite similar to being a student here at Riddle, or is it is it quite different?

Katlyn
Compared to the Prescott campus in here, I'd say it's pretty similar. A lot of students are very academically focused. The only difference I would say maybe is I see a lot more students at different stages of their lives here. Our age range is from fresh out of your bachelor's program, to we've seen adults who are almost in their 70s actually just going back for masters just because they want to. It's it's been really useful to actually see the different life experiences that people have brought in and are applying to the degree degree program.

Owen
Wow! I imagine you hear a lot of different stories from all over the place. That's so awesome. So I suppose being a student, it's it's similar similar day to day. But how how would you say it compares to your time in your undergrad here at Riddle?

Katlyn
Ooh, I think it's slightly different. I also, while currently going to school here, I'm a freelance worker for WMD expertise, so I do a lot of that on the side, or just a lot of AI work on the side, as well as my studies here. I would say here I have a lot less of a workload outside of the classroom than I do inside of the classroom. We see a lot of more writing assignments compared to my to undergrad at Riddle, that are a little bit more short based, and then just focused on applying and doing a lot of reading and research to bring into the classroom.

Owen
Would you are you able to talk a little bit about your freelance work with with them, or just in general?

Katlyn
There's not much I can say, unfortunately. Most of it requires NDAs. I prefer WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. I prefer to stay on the chemical and the biological side, just because that's what my undergrad brought to me. So I'm able to apply that. I can also do the radiological and the nuclear stuff, which is more so what my master's program has been focused in and teaching me, so I really enjoy both aspects. I also like to be able to apply it more so to the agricultural world, just because being raised on a farm, it's been a fun experience to take that knowledge and kind of mash them all together.

Owen
Oh, that's very interesting. No worries about talking about any of that. I completely understand. So you you mentioned you do a lot of writing, a lot of reading in your classes. What types of like genres, I suppose, of writing do you do? Do do like technical reports or like one pagers? I know that's some of what a lot of GSIS students do here.

Katlyn
Yeah. So compared to the writing that I did at Riddle, I did in undergrad, of course, with forensic biology, I had to do a lot of lab reports. So there was just the notebook labs, which were a couple pages, just depending on what the lab entitled, and then the final like lab report was typically six to eight pages, just depending on how much research you had to bring in for source wise. Here at MIS or Middlebury Institute of International Studies, I do a lot of short-based memos, so they're anywhere between two to three pages long, and then we have to be able to keep it concise, as our professors do expect us to be able to elevate it, pitch it, just like we would be doing in the real world. So they're really focused on making sure that that information that you're wanting to provide is tight and right there in front of them.

Owen
What is your, I suppose, goal or ambitions? Is it with the government, State Department, or private sector? If you're comfortable discussing,

Katlyn
No, I'm hoping eventually. So I've actually started my job application process with an expected graduation date in December. Better to start now than later to see myself in the federal government. Hopefully, getting to combine both the experiences of what Riddle's taught me with my degrees there, and then my master's degree. So having that opportunity to kind of combine both of them, I would like to be more so boots on the ground. I guess is the better way to explain it. So somewhere out in the field, rather than in the office or in the lab, doing much of the background work, I'd rather have that opportunity to travel and see the different experiences and apply that knowledge.

Owen
That's awesome. Have you have you had like first I suppose first world experience doing that with like internship.

Katlyn
I actually just this last weekend had completed a hands-on interactive course that our the Middlebury Institute offers. It's an emergency response and CBR and terrorism course. So I got to actually work with the local county's fire department and hazmat team and doing trainings there. So I was actually in the hazmat suit searching for different chemicals and radiological items that they placed out for us to actually try and find. Of course, it was nothing dangerous that like caused harm, but it was enough that like all of the sensors would go off for us. I actually also got my certifications in the Stop the bleed program. So that's yeah, a really cool training we get to do and get offered to like learn how to apply tourniquets. So that was a good experience. And then with undergrad with Riddle, I did get to do an internship program with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office and their crime scene unit. So that's also been very helpful to apply here.

Owen
Wow, that's amazing! Congratulations on well, both both your internship and completion of that course and certification was stop the bleed.

Katlyn
Thank you.

Owen
Yeah, we we have a similar we have a club on campus. There's a lot of paramedic and paramedics in training, and they do the stop the stop the bleed for a lot of people on here on campus, especially Afrazi and AROTC programs.

Katlyn
Yeah, we did talk about that a lot with the training program over the summer. Was this was a huge benefit and like changing the process within the military, especially during Iraq in the early years.

Owen
I can't help but think about the scene in one of the movies, I think Jarhead or something like that, where they're playing football in the in the suits, and it's just like, oh my gosh! I hope it wasn't too hot when you were doing the the training and the practical examples.

Katlyn
No, thankfully, Monterey is a bit more on the chilly side.

Owen
So I suppose as we kind of enter the aft end of our interview here, what would you, I suppose, wish you have known before leaving Embry Riddle and going on to your graduate degree program.

Katlyn
I think just the reminder that everybody is at different stages in their life. When I was at Riddle, I was actually a transfer student, so I was a little bit older than my class because I'd started earlier, and then of course COVID had affected a few things within you know school life and college. So it kind of set me. It didn't really set me back, but like I did graduate a little bit later than most people that I was already familiar with, and that was okay. And then now I'm here transferring into my or here in my master's program. Officially, technically not transferred, and just even now seeing, like I said, the age range here. It's okay to be at a different stage in your life than somebody else. One of our classmates is an Army War College fellow, so they're definitely a couple of them are from you know the military. They're here for a year to study and get a degree, and then they're off to their next position. So it's really just a reminder of everybody that you meet is somewhere different in your life, and it's okay to be where you're at.

Owen
That's so awesome. Where, if I may ask, where did you transfer from?

Katlyn
I transferred from San Jose State University into Embry Riddle back in 2021, I believe, if I remember correctly.

Owen
Oh well, was it a spring semester? You transferred in? Actually,

Katlyn
Actually, it was the fall semester, so I decided two weeks before my school program was supposed to start that I was going to transfer. A little bit of a scary experience, but it all for the good in the end.

Owen
So, so you had some time previously at San Jose State before coming here. I got you. What were you studying there?

Katlyn
I had also done forensic science with a focus in chemistry, of course. When I transferred to the Prescott campus, they only offered forensic biology, which was okay. It was still what I wanted to do, just a completely well, not completely different science, but a more focus in bio than it was chemistry.

Owen
That's cool. That's cool. So I happen to be a transfer student myself. Transferred from Oregon State in 2023 in spring from finance a finance degree, and now I'm a visit. Oh, excuse me. Now I'm an engineering degree. So, yeah, I understand. I understand a little bit of the transition there. It was quite scary at first. Just started already. Half the people I know are graduating this semester, and I still have another year. So I have two pieces, I suppose, of advice I'd like to ask for myself and for current student body and listeners. First, what sorts of advice would you have for, I guess, current students here at Embry Riddle that maybe if you were to come back, you would want to hear your first day. Be like, hey, Caitlin, your first day of school is coming up. This is what I would like to tell you.

Katlyn
I think I would say to just find out where all of the assistance offices are. So you know, the career center really get to know those folks there because they're going to really help you throughout your time period, and then also such as the writing center that. Had on the Prescott campus because it can really help you get through those papers, especially around final season or midterm season, if that's what your classes kind of focus in. Especially for my labs, all my lab reports, that just extra help to make sure that those reports were a little bit better. That's the way to go. Don't be afraid to ask for help, and then of course, anytime that there's an opportunity where there's a guest lecture, do your best to make it to that guest lecture. Network and make connections early on will really help you.

Owen
And my my second, I would like to ask, is what sort of advice would you have for people that are looking into graduate graduate level education? Maybe not specifically what the field that you're interested in, but just in general,

Katlyn
I think just do it. The way I looked at it, when I was getting ready to graduate from Riddle, I'd been applying for jobs. There wasn't quite anything biting at that point. The government was kind of on a lull of hiring fresh graduates, so I decided to start looking into master's programs. And I told myself if I got the job offer, I take the job. If I got into my master's program, I guess that's what was meant to be. So if it's something you're considering, just look into it. I mean, I often on considered it all throughout my degree program and my time in undergrad, and inevitably it just kind of worked out that way. So if it's something that you think you want, just go for it.

Owen
That's awesome. That's awesome. Thank you so much again for for your advice, and thank you for joining me on the podcast today.

Katlyn
Thank you.

Dr. Amelia Chesley
This podcast is supported by the Department of Humanities and Communication at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. Our hosts and producers are Owen Smith and Leah Little. I'm Amelia Chesley, assistant professor of professional writing. Many thanks to the Prescott Campus Writing and Design Lab for hosting our transcripts. The intro and outro music is Wanderer by Alex. You can find us where most podcasts are found, and if you are a Prescott Campus alum, please reach out so we can feature you in a future episode.

End of Transcript.