Life After Mac: Real stories of alumni finding their way — Jaclyn
They say that the 1996 movie “Twister” inspired a generation of weather enthusiasts, I am one of them. Since I was a child, I’ve been passionate about the inner and outer workings of our planet. My journey to fulfill my childhood dream was not straightforward and it took me five years to figure out what exactly my dream was.
I graduated from McMaster University in 2012 with a degree in Honours Earth and Environmental Science. During my four years at McMaster University, I was exposed to many potential careers. I took a wide variety of courses to keep all my options open, from a field course where I studied ecology in the Sonoran Desert for a month, to exploring the rock formations in Sudbury. During my final year, an opportunity opened up for a graduate research project in micrometeorology up north in the tundra. It was a natural next step for me based on my undergraduate thesis on the same topic.
It was an obvious path to take; I could stay in the same country, and I already had research experience on this topic. But I wasn’t so sure this was my “dream”. So I found another path — it was risky, much more expensive and involved moving to a different country. I followed my gut and took a leap of faith across the ocean.
I went to the University of Birmingham in England for MSc Applied Meteorology and Climatology. It was one of the hardest years of my life; my hair started thinning from the stress of the coursework and surviving on my student budget. I graduated in 2013 with distinction and came across another fork in the road: stay in the EU to pursue a PhD or move back to Canada. I was very much in debt at this point. The financial burden was too much and I had to move back in with my mom in Canada while I job searched.
I applied to many places, some were long shots. I was so inexperienced and it was a super competitive market. I worked part time at a mall while I sent out my resume with no expectations. To my utter shock, I received calls from the European Space Agency as well as The Weather Network, a notable Canadian company that I had admired for years. I pursued the latter and have been working at The Weather Network as a meteorologist for six years now. I couldn’t be happier with where I am. Now I can chase storms like they do in the movies.
I have learned some important lessons on my journey:
1. Build a rapport with your professors — ask them questions and don’t be shy! Work as a teaching or research assistant. You will need reference letters from professors familiar with your work. I could not have gone to graduate school without them!
2. Don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone. It was scary spending so money on graduate school when there was no guarantee it would get me where I wanted to go, but it was worth the risk!
3. If it’s a long shot, do it anyway! Send in that resume, go to that interview, etc. Don’t underestimate yourself. You never know what’s around the corner.
Jaclyn Hill
Hons. BSc Earth and Environmental Science ‘12
