SWE - Winter 2009 - (Page 44) Achievement Award Acceptance Address Melanie W. Cole, Ph.D. U.S. Army Research Laboratory t is such an honor to be here tonight and receive such a prestigious award. This is overwhelming — and what is most overwhelming is looking out there and seeing all of you, who are just amazing women. Never in my life have I been in the presence of so many, many, amazing women. I think for only me to be up here is a little bit selfcentered, because I don’t think I am up here alone. I believe that my path here would not have been possible without a lot of the opportunities that have been provided to me, starting with my family, who has always been supportive. And my family and good friends at the table — my mom; sister; brother; sister-inlaw; and my dear friend Ray McGowan, whom I have known for 20 years and was there at the onset of my career and the birth of my child, and is my daughter’s godfather; and my management. Working in the Army Research Lab, I have been provided with many opportunities by my director, Jill Smith, who could not be here tonight, and my division chief, Steve McKnight. They have supported my career, and without them it would have been really tough for me to have had any success within the Army Research Lab or in science. But most importantly, I have to thank my husband, Bob, and my daughter, Alexandria. When I found out that I received this award, I first called my husband and then my daughter, who was at ballet camp. I called her and told her I had received the lifetime Achievement Award, and she cried. I said, “Alex, this is a happy thing,” and she said, “Mom, I am so happy that people finally realize how hard you work and how much you do.” I think that says it all. I feel so blessed to have her as a daughter and know that she could see that it’s such a huge sacrifice when I’m working late, and to know [by her response] that it’s really worth it. A remarkable path I think it’s important to share a little bit about the path I took to get here, because it was incredibly unconventional — not that I would change a moment of it. Three things really influenced me. First, there are always going to be negative motivators. You have to learn to leave the negative motivators behind and turn them into positives. Second, there is always going to be bad stuff, but you have to learn to lose it and move forward. Third, you never want to give up. No matter what anyone says, whether it’s, “Oh, you’ll never do it because they’re not going to promote you”; or “You can’t succeed and be married, or have children”; or “You can’t do this and still perform well.” Never, never give up. What I think is most important is that you can have it all. But, as a graduate student, I had an office mate who said you can have it all, but just not at the same time. And that’s okay. I want to tell you a little bit about how I got motivated to be in science. Growing up, I always enjoyed mathematics. I just happen to be good with it. When I went to college, I thought I was going to be a math major. I spent my first two years in math, but it wasn’t enough for me. As an undergraduate you have the opportunity to take a variety of classes, and I took a class in geoscience. The first day of class, an Australian professor walked in with a hard hat, a geologist’s pick, and safety glasses, and he looked pretty good. He was a nice-looking, young professor, and he said, “Today I’m going to teach you all how to use math, chemistry, physics, and biol- There are always going to be negative motivators. You have to learn to leave the negative motivators behind and turn them into positives. 44 SWE WINTER 2009
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