In the academic space of Texas A&M University, I am a second-year doctoral student in the School of Public Health pursuing a Ph.D. in Health Services Research. Pursing a doctorate after entering the work force was honestly not part of my career goals, but my personal life was bringing me back to the Brazos Valley. Let me share this background with you all. My fiancé and I originally met at church during 2013 when I was working on my Master in Public Health at the School of Public Health, but we did not begin dating until 3 years later! We reconnected at our mutual friends’ proposal, December 2015. During the celebration with our friends and their family, little did I know that we were on the brink of our own fruitful relationship. (He apparently knew from that day!)

For 3 ½ years of our dating relationship, we were living in difference cities. I was back in my hometown of Dallas living and working as a young professional in healthcare management. He was living and working here, in Bryan/College Station and eventually enrolled back into Texas A&M to finish his bachelor’s degree in Nutrition Food Science. Receiving his bachelor’s from Texas A&M University has always been an academic goal of his, which is what brought him here from West Texas. And as we all know, in pursing goals, whether it be life goals, health goals, career goals, or in this case academic goals, there are sacrifices. Living in separate cities was a sacrifice we were willing to make for each other as we pursued career and academic goals, but we knew a distance relationship was temporary.

After several discussions over a 2-year time frame about how we could actually make living in the same city, we realized it would likely be easier for me to transition my life and job versus him enrolling into a different university that isn’t his dream school. I get it. I think we all completely understand that. After all, there’s something that draws each of us to a particular institution – the school culture, the traditions, familial ties, the ranking of programs, attending sporting events throughout your childhood or just watching them. The point is, what draws us in often leads to a dream and we should all be able to pursue our dreams. So, because I love him and support his dreams, I began seeking employment opportunities, during the summer of 2018, to transition my life from Dallas back to Bryan/College Station.

When I began actively pursuing jobs, I was working for Baylor Scott & White – HealthTexas Provider Network, and naively thought it would be easy to transition within the organization to a different city, but this was not the case. As I was actively applying for employment opportunities, I realized I was either over-qualified or under-qualified for the various opportunities I pursued and there weren’t very many available compared to a large metroplex. Sounds pretty discouraging, huh? Well, at the time it definitely was! Honestly, it made me question how we would achieve our personal goal of finally living in the same city, what the transition would like, and when would it actually begin. There’s no need to sugar-coat these feelings, thoughts, or experiences because I’m certain there are many others who can relate to that feeling or even that experience. But as scripture says in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “There is a right time for everything.”

One mid-January morning of 2019, as I scrolled through Facebook before getting out of bed and starting another work day (who knows what I talking about?), I stumbled across a social media post from my graduate school, the School of Public Health, advertising the recruitment of a new cohort of doctoral students with opportunities to be funded by working in the Population Informatics Lab. I remember reading over this opportunity and sort of jumping to sit up in bed in order to engage with the content. I was intrigued. And even more so when I realized I had practical work experience in many of the research areas of this lab. After learning more about the Ph. D. in Health Services Research program, I recognized that skillsets around data management, data analysis, and research methods to answer the multitude of questions I had about the healthcare industry could be fulfilled through this program and elevate my career experiences, knowledge, and path.

To this day, stumbling across this opportunity, quickly putting together a full application, and taking a leap of faith with the application process (mostly so I could move to the same city as my now fiancé) to begin this program has been rewarding beyond my imagination. However, matriculating into this program with the support of my family and my fiancé has made it more worthwhile. Growing up, I always wanted to be a doctor (a medical doctor that is) but little did I know that life would lead me to pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy. Either way, folks are going to call me Dr. Garcia or Dr. Benavides-Garcia. I’m still trying to figure out what my publishing name will be since I’m getting married during this program, so if you have any advice, then please share! As I digress though, I would love to know what brought you to pursue your degree at Texas A&M University?

- Laura Benavides

Laura is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Policy & Management