Kristina Salgado- Denver, CO
Astronomy major (Astrophysics option) - Graduated May, 2015
Software Quality Assurance Engineer at PaySimple
What was your most memorable moment as an astronomy major?
I’ve been trying to think of the single most memorable moment for days now and am really struggling! There are so, so many small moments that come to mind but I think one of the most defining moments as an astronomy major was the day of my thesis defense – April 2, 2015. I wouldn’t say that normally I am a nervous speaker, having given presentations to a crowd of 500 parents at new student orientation, but for whatever reason, this 1 hour talk in front of 4 people felt like a huge weight on my shoulders, like I wouldn’t be able to graduate if I couldn’t get through this thing! I can’t say that I knocked it out of the park, delivering with a very shaky voice and relying on the patience of my defense committee to get me through, but once I completed it, the feeling was unimaginable. I was so proud of myself for completing all the work I had put in, for having my astro learning culminate into such an interesting project, and for being able to look back at my 4 years at CU and say, “hey! I did that!”. It made all the nights of hair-pulling, brain-wracking, phone calls to my parents, among so many other struggles, worth it! It was an incredibly satisfying conclusion and validating moment for any times I had doubt that I needed to be somewhere other than an astronomy major.
Describe your career path since graduating
My plan truly was to go to graduate school for astro when I came in as a freshman at CU; however, by the time I got to my junior year to start thinking about programs I realized that I didn’t have the credentials to be competitive enough in the admissions process at the time. Being a good student doesn’t discount that there are a lot of smart people out there! While much of the landscape has evolved since I graduated, there were a few factors which contributed to my decision not to apply: (1) I didn’t have enough research experience, (2) I didn’t have a stand-out GPA, and (3) I was vastly unprepared and too burnt out to study for the Physics GRE, which many programs at the time required.
At CU, I was a part of the CU STARs program, which I had really enjoyed because of the community outreach. So after graduation, I made a quick pivot to the teaching world, where I joined the Denver Math Fellows program with a fellow CU grad. We worked in Denver Public Schools with small groups of kids grades 3-12 who were considered “behind” in grade-level math to help them get up to speed. This was one of the most challenging, but rewarding things I had ever done, and it gave me a much broader look at systemic issues in our education system. That being said, I knew after that year that working with kids wasn’t for me in the long run.
Needing just a paycheck and some doors to open career-wise, I started working at a tech company in Denver as a part of their customer service team, where I gained invaluable skills in time and people management, along with experience of what it’s like to have just a regular job! Let me tell you, switching from a school schedule to a 9-5-esque schedule is quite the change! After becoming team lead, a new role on the Quality Assurance team opened up and, as I was searching for something more technical at the time, I made the transition in 2018 and have been in this role since! My day-to-day is testing software code written by developers on my team before it is released to the public. It’s my job to find issues in the software and verify that it was made to specifications before the real stakeholders (our customers) see it and interact with it. I do this with a variety of tools, but because I am typically working with our back-end development team, I frequently work with APIs instead of a user interface and test both manually and with automation scripts that I write.
How did your time in APS prepare you for your current career (or life) – if at all
My time in APS prepared me for my current career in I think the ways you would expect from most any technical field – critical thinking & problem solving. While obviously not as applicable for my current position as say, an engineering degree, I think astrophysics taught me those two things just as equally as my math major or as a chemistry degree might. Looking back, I have no regrets in studying astrophysics as an undergrad, even if it isn’t what I’m doing now and even though my end goals significantly changed from my freshman to my senior years. If anything, I wish I had taken more classes and/or electives that involved programming to make it more applicable to the kinds of jobs I was applying for in “the real world” post-graduation. However, my experience in Python from my thesis and from ASTR 3800 served as a great basis for my daily work in software now.
I would also say that my time at APS gave me a crash course in communicating technical ideas to general audiences. Becoming an astronomy help room tutor, a learning assistant for non-major astro courses, and working shows at Fiske were among the most valuable experiences I had in developing this skill. In any job I’ve had or applied for, clear communication is a stand-out ability for recruiters and then again among my coworkers and managers which has significantly contributed to my career growth.
What advice would you give to current APS undergraduate majors?
For practicality in the major, especially those on the Astrophysics track, double-major in physics and/or math. You are already taking SO many of the required courses, it’s worth it to add the couple of classes so you can major in one of those as well. If your plan is to go to grad school, they will do nothing but help you. If your plan is to go into the workforce, many of the aerospace companies I applied to were looking at my math degree, not my astrophysics degree. While I don’t doubt that my astrophysics degree would’ve been enough for me to get the job and excel, recruiters and hiring managers are often looking for key words on resumes and astrophysics typically isn’t one.
If you’re looking for research experience but for whatever reason aren’t a part of an REU program, I would HIGHLY encourage you to do an honors thesis and be a part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) at CU. I emailed a few professors in the department whose research sounded interested to me, asked if they had any opportunities for undergrad research, and I ended up connecting with one of Prof. Mitch Begelman’s graduate students at the time – Greg Salvesen, now a Post Doc at UC Santa Barbara. He helped me put together an invaluable research project where I learned so much beyond just the stuff you learn in the classroom and I earned money for a lot of it thanks to UROP – a win-win scenario.
I think my third piece of advice would be to find your “astro family” in the department. I had such a reliable and consistent group of fellow astronomy and physics students to attend office hours with, do homework with, study for exams with – I can’t imagine how I would’ve made it through that rigorous major alone! Lean on your professors, your advisors, your mentors – they were students once too and can help you with whatever vision you are developing as an undergrad, related to astronomy or not. I’ll always remember a conversation I had with Prof. Dave Brain, my mentor, about the importance of astro research, among other lofty research endeavors like the cure for cancer, how to equalize STEM education for women and people of color, or clean water solutions. That conversation helped me realize the impact I could make post-graduation outside of astronomy as I was searching for a new goal after pivoting away from graduate school.
Any other comments?
I’d be happy to serve as a resource for any astro students wanting to network, learn more about the Denver tech “scene”, do an honors thesis, etc. However I can help current students, I’d be interested in learning more! Thanks for this opportunity to share my story!