September 9, 2024

By Katya Hrichak

Graduate studies can be challenging, so how does one find support they need to get through? For Christian Guzman, M.S. ’11, Ph.D. ’16, the answer was found in community.

Guzman, now assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, gave the alumni keynote session of this year’s Summer Success Symposium on August 20, titled, “Decisions, Decisions, Decisions: Seeking Insights Through Wisdom and Community.”

Coming from a household with parents who did not complete high school, Guzman found himself in new territory when he arrived at Cornell ready to start his program in biological and environmental engineering. He understood that there was a lot that he did not yet know and found “sponsors” to help guide him through these transitions, including an advisor, mentors, and others in knowledgeable positions.

Throughout his time at Cornell, Guzman also made time for activities outside of his studies, aware of how easy it would be to just keep working. He prioritized attending salsa dancing nights and joined a local soccer league, finding additional communities who taught him the importance of balance between time for his educational pursuits and time for himself.

“It’s very easy to just get focused on your work, because then it’s a cycle. You’re behind, so you pick up the slack, but then you’re tired, and so then your output is less productive, and then you get stuck in a rut,” he said. “I wanted to have this way of being that no matter what, these are the things that I was involved in.”

Another community that Guzman never strayed far from was the one back home. Even miles away, completing work his family was unfamiliar with, Guzman stayed in touch.

“You can take them with you wherever you go, especially here, as a source of wisdom, as a source of inspiration,” he said. “Don’t leave that behind. It can be daunting to be here, but everything they’ve done is just another version of some of the things that you’re doing.”

This year’s Summer Success Symposium also featured an opening plenary session, “The Difficult I’ll do Right Now. The Impossible Will Take a Little While: Navigating the Doctoral Process,” with Ruth C. Browne, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House of New York and the Cornell College of Human Ecology Inaugural Flemmie Kittrell Visiting Scholar; a micro-session, “Caring for Your Health and Well-being,” featuring flash talks by Associate Dean for Graduate Student Life Janna Lamey, Graduate Student Life Advisor, Olivia Hopewell, and Assistant Director of Counseling and Psychological Services and Community Liaison for Indigenous Students Wahieñhawi “Hawi” Hall; and a student panel, “Mastering Your Transition Into and Progression Through Graduate School.”

This event was sponsored by the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement, the College of Engineering Office of Inclusive Excellence, and the Cornell Chapter of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society and was modeled in part after PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP Summer Success Institute. The launch and institutionalization of the Summer Success Symposium benefited from support from the 2016 ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education and NSF under Award No. 1647094, CIRTL AGEP Transformation Alliance from 2016-2022.