Victor Jose (BSME 2002) chose a career in education because he wanted to teach and interact with strong and motivated students. He advises students who are interested in pursuing education as a career to choose a field they are passionate about.

Why did you choose a career in education?

Immediately after graduation, I joined the faculty of the QMIT Department of JGSOM as an Assistant Instructor, teaching business statistics, operations management, and quantitative methods. Teaching and interacting with strong and motivated students was one of the initial attractions of education to me. As I pursued my PhD, I really found research extremely fulfilling. Research gave me that opportunity to work on new projects, learn new things, and work with new people from different countries and universities.

How are you able to apply the lessons you learned in ME in your work?

The biggest things I learned from ME that I still apply to my work are (1) how to prioritize and follow through with the many things I need and want to do, and (2) how to work effectively with other people.

What advice can you give young ME students and grads?

For people who want to pursue education as a career, I would say choose a field that interests and excites you. For those preparing for graduate school, I would encourage you to strengthen your foundations in the core disciplines (mathematics, statistics, economics, psychology, etc.) and try to dip your toes in some form of research if you can.

In my case, I decided to double major in Math during my sophomore year and so took more foundational math courses. I also did a few research projects—e.g., Graph Coloring (for one of Dr. Ruiz’s seminars) and an undergraduate thesis on Financial Volatility (under the guidance of Dr. Marasigan). When I think back on those papers, I recognize how unsophisticated the outputs were, but also how valuable the experience of just talking and interacting with these mentors was for me.

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