Chloe Obrien

Background

About Chloe Obrien

Immediately following the excitement of receiving my M.A. in Physics, I found myself, and everyone, amidst the onset of the COVID pandemic, which brought about, among many things, a vast degree of employment fluctuations and uncertainty. The job landscape was a very rough place for a recent graduate to find their place, leading to extended unemployment for myself while I stayed stubborn and searched for the perfect positions. Seeking a change, my wife and I eventually moved to Western Massachusetts to live with her mother while we helped around the house during her mother's post-surgery healing, which also afforded us the opportunity to be present during her grandfather's last few months with us. I eventually landed my first job after graduation, an adjunct professorship with Springfield College. This position afforded a wonderful opportunity to stay in Massachusetts and catch up with my wife's family. During my second semester at the school, I was given only one section, forcing me to look for supplementary work through the semester. I decided to apply for a serving position at a brand new restaurant specializing in sushi, as well as a variety of Asian cuisines. Given my prior, albeit very distant, sushi experience, I was asked to join the team as a sushi chef. For the next nine months, I found myself engrossed in a world very different from what I had spent years preparing for in school; I became obsessed. While the work was very physically demanding, beyond anything I had been used to over the previous decade, I flourished, pushing my head chefs to train me faster than the norm. Come the following semester, I decided to not renew my professorship so I could continue working full time learning sushi and cooking, something I had aspired to many years before. I now find myself yearning for a return to data work, bringing me back to what I truly want to bring to the world.