Maggie Seeds, a 2012 graduate of the Physics (BA) degree program, wanted a career that would allow her to use the analytical and critical thinking skills she honed while at Appalachian.
Her position as a consultant with Clarkston Consulting in Durham gives her just what she was looking for.
“Being here is allowing me to experience different roles so I can figure out what I want to grow my expertise in,” Seeds said. So far she’s been working with company clients on the technical component of software implementation.
“I work with development teams to customize the code to suit client’s business needs. It’s a neat position because it allows me to experience different departments of a business. From data analytics to industry mergers and acquisition strategies, we touch on so many subjects,” she said.
“Another cool thing about my job is that I travel to where my clients are located, so I’m always experiencing different cities and offices.”
Looking forward, she says there are opportunities for her to transition into roles to help strategize and optimize business processes and get experience managing teams. She believes her time in the Department of Physics and Astronomy prepared her to take on any challenge set before her.
“Working on this degree developed within me a mindset to persevere through tough work and to get to the root of a problem via critical thinking, no matter how many tries it takes,” she said.
Seeds, who was on a full-ride volleyball scholarship at Appalachian and also in The Honors College, says she was attracted by the university’s renowned Department of Physics and Astronomy and its beautiful location in the mountains. During the summer before her senior year, a North Carolina Space Grant allowed her to work with Dr. Richard Gray on his research with young solar analogs. The project was the basis for her honors thesis.
“It was a great learning experience for me,” she said. “The department is an excellent place for anyone looking for challenges and relationships that inspire you.”
“My time there made me a much more self-sufficient person. When I want to know how something works I now have the basics to figure it out for myself, and the confidence to approach new subjects,” she said.
