by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
Student Max Fitzpatrick said he wasn't planning on getting his master's degree from UNM until forces of nature intervened.
"I got a fellowship to do a master's in Latin American Studies at Tulane in New Orleans," he said. "When I got to the Latin American Institute there, they were boarding up all the windows and people were leaving the city. My orientation was scheduled for Monday, and that's when Hurricane Katrina hit. By Tuesday, the city was completely flooded."
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He arrived in New Orleans on a Friday, left on a bus for Houston the next day and hasn't looked back since, he said. Fitzpatrick, who worked for five years before coming to UNM, said he gets professional experience while he studies.
"I taught English in Mexico, worked with refugees and immigrants in Portland, Ore., and I've done political organizing," he said. "This summer, I just got done planning the state Democratic Party's presidential caucus."
Fitzpatrick began his master's last year and plans to go straight into a doctoral program at UNM when he graduates.
Student Danny Hernandez is the chairman of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority, which manages water drainage and flood control in the metro area. Getting a master's in Public Administration and Community and Regional Planning will help him get ahead, Hernandez said.
"I'm already, in some ways, doing work in both public administration and community planning," he said. "Getting the theory behind the practice will help me with what I'm already doing. It will also open up possibilities to be appointed to head up a state or local governmental agency."
Hernandez said that before working in flood control, he was a journalist, a professional scuba diver in the Florida Keys and chairman of the Greater Albuquerque Bicycle Advisory Committee. Because of his ties to Albuquerque, Hernandez said UNM was his only choice for getting his master's. But he has been impressed with what he's seen at the University so far, he said.
"I live here, and I'm the president of my neighborhood association," he said. "So, if I were to get any kind of graduate degree, it would have to be at UNM."
Student Krishnaprasad Sankar traveled thousands of miles from southern India to study at UNM for a master's in electrical engineering.
"I wanted to do a master's at a college where I would have enough research opportunities," he said. "While I was investigating colleges, I found UNM to be a good place for research, so I decided to come here."
Rather than taking time to get professional experience, Sankar said he went straight into graduate school after getting a bachelor's degree.
"I was really excited with my electrical engineering program during my undergraduate studies, and I basically wanted to further that without stopping to work," he said.
At UNM, Sankar works as a research assistant at the Center for High Technology Materials, where he helps create tiny crystals that emit light and have been used by the military, he said.
Sankar said he'll put his education to use back in his home country. "I will probably work a couple of years to gain some experience," he said. "Then, I plan to go back to India to set up a company, ideally."
