Podcast: Goodnight Grad James B. Robertson

00:01):

Please listen carefully.

Taylor Pardue (00:21):

On this episode, we’re joined by James B. Robertson to discuss the Goodnight Scholar Program, which he was a member of as an undergraduate here at NC State, and the Goodnight Doctoral fellowship program, which he is currently a member of.

(00:51):

Yeah, so, as I was introduced, I’m James Robertson. I’m currently a doctoral student in the Department of Statistics here at NC State. That has become a large portion of my identity at this point, in the way that graduate school does. What originally brought me to NC State, what is it, 10 years ago-ish, give or take, it feels like. So, it feels so recent for it to be so long ago, but then when I was in high school, I was very much of the opinion that I wanted to be an engineer and why exactly was sort of the way that a lot of people end up in the direction of engineering, which is excelling in mathematics and sciences and having an interest in these and being sort of told that this is the career for people who like math and science, this is sort of what you do.

(03:13):

it was the best nice surprise you could have probably had.

James B. Robertson (03:41):

But once you saw it on the page, you couldn’t turn away, I’m sure.

James B. Robertson (04:47):

I’m sure. So, you’ve got that weight off your mind now, off your family’s mind. Talk about your undergrad experience here and what that allowed you to do since you didn’t have to worry about maybe a part-time job, I guess.

James B. Robertson (05:58):

Just about every Goodnight Scholar that I know agrees that the Goodnight Scholars are some of the coolest people that you’ll ever meet, and then they very quickly and hastily say that they’re not particularly counting themselves among that number, that trying not to seem, not to seem too arrogant or hubristic, but that we’ve got really wonderful peers, and continuing to interact with them is great. But the programs all through undergrad were very influential, too; that they had really impactful leadership and professional development programs, which spanned everything from résumé workshops to home-buying advice. There was one year that they had sort of an adulting 101 series where they had people come and just sort of talk about things that would help you eventually transition to adult life. Things like buying houses and what it really means to do your taxes and why you should probably get a tax accountant to do it. All sorts of things like that. My undergraduate felt very relaxed a lot of times, aside from all the stresses of classes, but that it was definitely not a lot of worry because they didn’t have to worry about the monetary aspect, wasn’t losing time to part-time jobs that would detract from time for academics and time for sociality. It’s upsetting the balance there. So, it, a lot of it was very impactful for both integrating into a really good community that I stayed strong with the whole way through.

Taylor Pardue (07:56):

It being a full program was very, very influential and very transformative. It’s the reason that I am the adult that I am today, that going into college, you’re really a high schooler for a good little while, while you’re still in college.

Taylor Pardue (08:10):

There’s a lot of maturing that goes on, and being part of such a good community, just full of good, strong-minded people and good strong-minded professional staff, was really influential for making sure that that development, that growing was happening in a very productive direction.

Taylor Pardue (08:29):

From day one.

Taylor Pardue (08:32):

That it was within three hours of me moving in.

Taylor Pardue (08:42):

Yeah. I actually, I met my girlfriend through the Goodnight Scholars program. She was also class of 2018. We actually first really met at a Goodnight Scholars event, and I sort of just haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since. So, that is another way that the Goodnight Scholars program has made a meaningful impact in the direction of my life.

Taylor Pardue (09:15):

Yeah, so I was lucky enough to come in with some AP credits, able to knock a few GPs out — some of the ones that I was going to be less excited to be taking again — which opened up some free time for me in my schedule, which meant that really I decided that I’d start taking master’s classes before graduation. And in part, that’s also tied back to the economics of it because I wasn’t in a hurry to graduate. There wasn’t an associated cost or detriment to sticking around a little bit longer. So, I took a fair number of master’s classes. I think between my undergraduate and the master’s coursework, I think I took just about every master’s class that NC State had to offer, in statistics specifically. It set me up very clearly and very well for that: for not being too worried about getting out as fast as I could, able to slow down, take my time, got a minor in Spanish, too.

(11:02):

And then, from there, just transition into the working world back to back, lickety split. At that point, I was definitely well worn of school. I’ve generally enjoyed school all my life, and I think that that remained true then, too, but that, I think I was 23 at that point, and I was sort of the mind, maybe I was 22, sort of the mind that I had spent whole time since I was five years old in school, so that I thought I would go get a taste of the working world and that in the master’s program, too, there were peers who were a little bit older, had gone, worked and were coming back for a master’s degree, and that they generally seemed to be more clearly motivated in their questions, tended to be sort of diving deeper into the material, asking more deep-driving questions.

(12:27):

It almost sounds like, in a way, a study-abroad program. Just kind of that horizon-broadening and getting that full-fledged living experience and everything. And then, like you said, coming back. So, all of that is huge in and of itself, but kind of like we were saying about the Goodnight program being a whole suite, now you’ve come back to another Goodnight program.

James B. Robertson (13:49):

And then I stayed there for almost four years. It was this past July, so July of 2023 that I ended up leaving that position so I could come back and be a graduate student full time, be a doctoral student full time, because there is a lot of work; that being in the working world is a lot of work, and that I didn’t think that I wanted to balance being a student on top of that too much, and that it’d be a little bit more quick, more time-efficient if I’m able to just focus on it and focus in on, and I wanted the change of pace, to get back to the sort of hard-driving questions that you get asked by professors in classrooms. And then, in my applying for the graduate program, for the doctoral program, I was also invited to be a Goodnight Doctoral Fellow, which very quickly rocketed NC State to the top of my list.

(16:15):

And, yeah, just the multiple benefits of that, kind of like with the undergraduate program and the Goodnight Scholars program there, …

James B. Robertson (16:23):

… not just taking the stress off, but adding to the help that you get. You’re not just breaking neutral, but yeah.

James B. Robertson (18:20):

Definitely a more realistic view of that emerging field versus, like you said, some people see it as all or nothing, it’s a total replacement or don’t use it at all, versus what it is: a tool. Jumping back just a little bit, but just an aside: It did not click when you said “late 2019,” getting into the job force. What a time to … little could you have known, but I’m glad to hear that you were able to get that work experience in a weird time, but also that you had caring, empathetic coworkers and everything at that time. That would be a terrible, worst-case scenario: to jump into the job market and then being in a bad position.

James B. Robertson (19:31):

So, obviously you have many skills and you’re getting even more training. Kind of tell a little bit about where you think you might go from here, whether that’s in academia or private industry.

James B. Robertson (20:51):

So, I still need to get my feet wet a little bit more with research before I can be totally sure, but I think that I would enjoy going in a faculty direction, and I’ve talked with some current faculty at NC State to sort of help me figure out what that looks like; how I can start getting set up going that way.

Taylor Pardue (21:09):

That all of the professors in the Statistics department are very open to meeting with people and talking about things that matter to them, like the state of professorship and academia and how to be a good peer in academia. So, that is my current sort of thought and direction, though I may end up going back into industry. That I think, if I end up back in industry, I’ll probably be working more in a collaborative and consulting sense, similar to how I was doing in the College of Veterinary Medicine, but that even if I stay in academia, I think I’ll probably still be doing that, too. That I find it to be very enriching and fulfilling work.

(23:08):

OK. I will say, hearing you talk about teaching — a passion for teaching is a special thing, a passion for a chosen career field as some applied version of that, in this case being statistics. That’s a special thing, but to have both, that is a very unique pairing, so that’s exciting for you, the different possibilities that it opens up.

James B. Robertson (23:45):

Shameless plug, but I will say there are Goodnight professorships here at NC State, too, but if not, there’s also a very wonderful tech company down the road as well. If listeners …

James B. Robertson (24:03):

And working in AI now, so that’s an interesting tie-in, too. Thanks again for joining us today, James, and all the best as you finish up this latest degree. It’s been really interesting to hear you talk about your journey so far through NC State, and we just wish you all the best as you go out into whichever career field you end up choosing.

James B. Robertson (24:27):

Well, we really enjoyed it. I’m sure listeners will as well.

James B. Robertson (24:29):

Thanks again.

James B. Robertson (24:56):

To learn more about Dr. Jim and Mrs. Ann Goodnight’s impact on NC State, please visit goodnight.ncsu.edu and go.ncsu.edu/goodnight. If you’d like to hear even more stories of Wolfpack success, please subscribe to the NC State Philanthropy Podcast today in the Apple or Google podcast stores, on Spotify or through Stitcher. Be sure to leave a comment and rating as well to let us know how we’re doing. Thanks for listening, and as always, go Pack.