This Saturday, May 10th, will be a day filled with hopes and dreams for the 1,454 undergraduates who will turn the tassel at the Pan Am Center, 1810 E University Ave., after four years of study at New Mexico State University.
Jillian McBeth will be one of them. She hopes to take the research she did in nuclear energy as an undergraduate at NMSU and, possibly, work in the energy sector for part of her career.
The ambitious undergraduate has lots of ideas about what her future might hold and, after four years at NMSU, she is ready to tackle the world.
McBeth was no ordinary student during her time as an Aggie. The 22-year-old double majored in government and anthropology and minored in public administration and Spanish. She researched community engagement around the federal government’s nuclear waste repository outside of Carlsbad, was a Crimson scholar for maintaining a 3.6 GPA or better and she received an award from NMSU for Outstanding Graduate for the College of Arts and Sciences.
McBeth spent a summer studying abroad last year in Costa Rica to work on her Spanish-language skills. She comes from a military family and moved to El Paso when she was in middle school. McBeth said she experienced culture shock and noticed her classmates were learning their third or fourth languages when she arrived to the border city so she got to work learning Spanish.
McBeth described herself as “proficient,” in Spanish. She attributed NMSU’s Department of Language and Linguistics, which provided a native speaker to chat with during school hours, to her success at gaining skill in a second language.
After the cap and gown have been stored away, McBeth will start working for the office of U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-Las Cruces, this summer. But McBeth has lots of plans and ideas about her future beyond working for the congressman who represents the second congressional district.
McBeth dreams of working one day in the environmental nonprofit sector, as well as for one of the national laboratories in New Mexico as a political or social scientist. In addition to nuclear energy research, McBeth has toyed with the idea of pursuing research ideas in water access for local communities in New Mexico.
Long-term, McBeth wants to pursue a master’s degree in public administration and, likely, will go beyond that for a Ph.D.
Also a young activist, McBeth says she is committed to staying in New Mexico.
“I’ve always been interested in people of different backgrounds, how society views them. My goal in the future is to combine my background in government policy and cultural policy. I want to make some sort of difference, especially around inequities and inequalities especially here in New Mexico,” McBeth said.
Cristian Estrada
Another outstanding Aggie graduate, Cristian Estrada, will also be turning the tassel on Saturday when he receives his Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology. Estrada told the Bulletin he plans to return to New Mexico, to his home community of Cimarron or another small town like it, after he receives his Ph.D.
Estrada attributes his passion for a career in kinesiology to growing up in a town with the population of 800.
While still in high school, Estrada had the opportunity to get to know a physical therapist who was working with a local girl who had been visually impaired since birth. Because Cimarron is so small of a town, Estrada was able to get involved in helping the physical therapist work with the child.
“I got to meet her when she was in the second grade. When I first started working with her, she was scared to venture into the playground by herself. But by the time we finished helping her, she was hanging upside down off the monkey bars. Now she’s in the sixth grade and she runs track and cross country,” Estrada said.
Estrada said he knew he’d found his calling in life.
In addition to graduating with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology, Estrada also found time to minor in early childhood education. Estrada will also graduate with the honor of being chosen as an Outstanding Graduate for the Department of Health Education and Social Transformation.
While a student, he stayed busy with extracurriculars, too. Estrada was president of the kinesiology club for both his junior and senior years. He became president of the Department of Health Education and Social Transformation student council, representing the department. He also spent three years as a kinesiology peer advisory leader while working part-time for the Department of Kinesiology and NMSU Foundation.
This semester, Estrada finishes an internship he held at a public school in Deming where he worked with children who have developmental or physical challenges. He said the experience solidified his passion for kinesiology.
The 22-year-old is not taking any time off.
On May 27th, Estrada will be sitting in a classroom again, this time at Texas Technical University in Lubbock, working toward his Doctor of Physical Therapy.
But Estrada plans to return to New Mexico. He aspires to be a practicing Doctor of Physical Therapy and specialize in pediatric physical therapy for a rural area in the state.
“I feel it’s my duty to serve those [rural] communities that gave so much to me and raise my future family there,” he said.
