Rebecca Hubbard always excelled at science and math and considered becoming a science fiction writer but chose pre-med instead. However, not a “people person,” she discovered she had no interest in the clinical side of medicine. While looking for summer research opportunities, she learned about the Harvard Summer Program in Biostatistics, a field she had never heard of before, and decided to give it a try. This literally changed her life. Today, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, she writes papers instead of poetry and science instead of fiction and helps her talented students decode the academic maze.

Machell Town’s introduction to statistics was as a statistician for the Boys and Girls Club varsity basketball team and, even though she started out at the University of Georgia majoring in computer science, she eventually changed her major to statistics. Town earned her PhD in public health with a concentration in epidemiology from Walden University. Currently, she is the branch chief for the Population Health Surveillance Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She mentors young professionals and students inside and outside the CDC and was appointed to the statistics advisory committee of Preventing Chronic Disease.

Scarlett Bellamy grew up on her grandparent’s tobacco farm, learning how to drive a tractor when she was just five years old. This experience shaped her work ethic. Moreover, when her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Bellamy promised she would become a doctor so she could “fix” her. Ultimately, Bellamy earned her PhD in biostatistics from Harvard and although it wasn’t the type of doctor who could fix her grandmother, she did fulfill her promise. Today, Bellamy is a professor of biostatistics and associate dean for diversity, inclusion, and faculty development at Drexel University.

Everyone has a personal reservoir of resilience and current times require using those reservoirs to navigate the day-to-day challenges and help others whose wells have run low.

Negotiation is crucial for accepting a job, but panelists at a WSDS 2020 session stressed that negotiation is not a one-off event—it occurs regularly within an organization and external parties.