Hi readers! My name is Kimberly Fiock, and I’m a PhD student in experimental pathology at the University of Iowa. That’s a fancy way to say that I use different techniques to study diseases, and my research is focused specifically on those that affect the brain.
Choosing Pathology
I’ve always wanted to be a scientist, but it took me a while to figure out what kind. Growing up, I thought that the only way to be a scientist was to work with chemicals in a lab. When my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, I decided that I would cure cancer by developing drugs! As I got older, I also developed a passion for forensic science but was told that was “too weird and creepy” for a girl. When it came time to apply for college, I applied as a chemistry major to all but one university because I had enjoyed chemistry in high school. Truth be told, I didn’t necessarily feel like it was my calling, which is why I applied as a neuroscience major to my alma mater. At the time, I had no idea what neuroscience was but figured that the brain would be interesting to learn about.
In college, I worked in a chronic pain research lab with mice to expand our understanding of chronic pain conditions. At the time, I felt drawn to the research, but I never enjoyed working with animals. The summer before sophomore year, I was accepted to an internship in my home state of Arizona working on a project for the Banner Sun Health Research Institute Brain and Body donation program. I knew absolutely nothing about brain donation but thought that the opportunity to participate in an autopsy was one I couldn’t pass up. This opportunity truly changed my life, and I’m so grateful that I accepted the internship (I had been offered another summer internship in my chronic pain lab that I heavily debated taking).
Neuropathology, the study of brain diseases, is my calling, and I’m not sure I would have found my way there without this internship. I had the chance to hold a human brain for the very first time, learn about the incredible gift of brain donation, and actually see a disease physically manifesting in the brain. From that moment forward, I knew that I wanted to continue my education in pathology and gain a better understanding of how disease worked on a cellular level. Pathology is rarely taught at the undergraduate level; in fact, I had tried to take a neuropathology class after my internship, but it hadn’t been offered for over 10 years!
Making My Way to Graduate School
I knew I wanted to be a scientist, so I assumed my next step was grad school, which I hoped would give me the in-depth knowledge I was searching for. Truthfully, I didn’t have anyone to talk to about my options and still didn’t really understand what “being a scientist” meant. I was told by many people that I wouldn’t make it into grad school or be successful as a scientist, which only pushed me further into the career. So, I set out to apply for PhD programs, only to be told I wasn’t good enough to get in. Being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in college changed my academic performance permanently, and program directors couldn’t see past that. Instead, I applied for master’s programs in hopes that I could use that time to figure out my path to being a scientist.
I was accepted to and graduated from (during the pandemic!!!) a master’s program in pathology at the University of Iowa. It was, without a doubt, the best thing I could have done for myself, personally and professionally. Not only did I gain an incredible support system (including meeting my husband), but I finally learned what it meant to be a scientist. Today, I am continuing to grow and develop my independence as a scientist pursuing my PhD, and I have plans to work as a staff scientist and director of a brain bank upon graduation.
Final Advice
My advice to you, readers, is to follow your calling. Many people along the way told me that being a scientist was not my calling because it didn’t fit THEIR narrative of MY story. But I chose me. I chose to pursue what made me happy, what I felt I was good at, what gives me purpose. If those same people had invested in me, they might have seen that. Which brings me to my other piece of advice: invest in yourself. Spend your time and energy on the things that will get you where you want to go, not on convincing others of your abilities. They are always going to see what they want, so focus instead on building yourself up.
If my story resonates with your or you’re looking for someone to lift you up, feel free to get in touch with me on Instagram or Twitter (@thepathphd). I’d love to tell you all about what being a scientist means to me and help you on your own journey to figuring that out! Wishing you all the best, and thanks for being here, dear reader.
