“I never feel like I’m quite the expert – I’m always learning,” Dr. Asim Gazi confided during a recent Pathfinders visit. Dr. Gazi is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. Earlier this month, he presented to 30 sixth grade students at the Gardner Pilot Academy, where the conversation touched on his passion for soccer, math, teaching, and electrical engineering.
Dr. Gazi told the students that, from an early age, his dream was to be a professional soccer player. His parents encouraged him to pursue that goal, with the caveat that he either needed to earn As or demonstrate his best effort in his classes in order to attend practices. He was on track to achieve that dream until high school, when consecutive injuries slowed him down. By the second ACL tear, he knew he needed a new career goal, and decided to channel his competitive drive into his schoolwork. Even before his injuries, Asim had loved math; after his soccer career ended, he thought becoming a math teacher might be the right path for him.
Since Asim had a good relationship with his math teachers, he asked them what they thought of this plan. Each had a different perspective – some thought he should pursue finance, since it paid better than teaching, while others thought he should teach, but at the college level. Regardless of the career path he chose, they all agreed that he had both a facility and a love for math, so he started his undergraduate career as a math major. As he continued on his journey, he met other mentors who suggested that engineering might be a better fit for his interests, while also offering more immediate job prospects. He shifted his major to electrical engineering with a math minor.
Even as he found both joy and success on this new path, Asim wasn’t sure what he wanted his ultimate career to be. He knew that he liked applied math better than pure math. Thanks to a part-time job as a tutor, he knew he liked teaching. From his classes, he knew he liked to learn. The path that tied all of those pieces together was to become a researcher, but he didn’t know what to research.
Then his older brother let him know that he was facing mental health challenges and was checking himself into the hospital for treatment. At first, Asim was devastated – how had he not realized his brother was struggling? He wanted to help folks and thought about changing his career path once again. Fortunately, his mentor let him know that the path he was already on was a growing field in mental health – engineers were needed to help create diagnostic tools and predict when folks needed additional support.
It’s rare for someone to choose their exact career while in grade school, so for many students, hearing a professional share their winding career path can be inspiring and eye-opening. Asim’s path was indirect, and in sharing his story, he imparted three key lessons to the Gardner’s sixth grade students: be adaptable, ask for help, and be persistent in reaching your goals.
