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2016 AIPG STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS


The most important turning point in my life to decide to be a geophysicist was when I got a four-year scholarship from PetroVietnam to study Geophysics at the University of Tulsa. PetroVietnam is the largest oil company in Vietnam; and they chose people from thousands of high school students to study in the United States in order to create an important working gen- eration in the future. My father also works for PetroVietnam and he told me a lot about what it is like in the oil industry. My father’s boss is a geophysicist and he also told me who the geophysicists are. I started to have a big view about petroleum geophysicists but at this point, I cannot imagine that I would become a geophysicist in the future. PetroVietnam chose Geophysics as my maor in the United States. This was the time when geophysics and I first met. I went to the University of Tulsa and took “Intro to Geoscience” class as my first maor class. We heard a lot of professors in the Geoscience depart- ment talking about their interested fields such as Structural Geology, Earthquakes, Geochemistry, Environment, and Geophysics. I was interested in the presentations of two Geophysics professors, especially when they taught about the relationship between Geophysics, Math, and Physics. Because my base is a general-science student, I felt excited when hearing about wave equation, magnetic and gravity methods. This was when I decided to go into Geophysics. Even though I am ust a sophomore, I took many Geology and Geophysics courses. I am taking Well-logging and Applied Geophysics now and these things are really intriguing to me. I also have a research proect about using 3D seismic well log data to create a scientific output data of Teapot Dome in Wyoming.


I always believe that obs choose people, and not people


choose obs and it is correct in my situation. My ambition in Petroleum Geophysics seems to start late but it is not a problem. There are many decisions in my life but until now, the decision of accepting PetroVietnam scholarship and study to become a Petroleum Geophysicist is the best decision. Becoming a good Petroleum Geophysicist will be a goal I will achieve in the future.


Wesley Weisberg, SA-6921


My father, who has always been fascinated by the amazing perplexi- ties of our Earth, sparked my pas- sion for geology at a young age. In my youth I had the heart of a geologist. I would gather rocks for my rock collection and attempt to unearth dinosaur bones at the local playground. At eighteen, my adven- turous spirit led me to oined the


United States Navy where I traveled all over the world as a Naval Aircrewman aboard the P-3 Orion aircraft. My mission was to conduct oceanographic acoustic analysis of submarines and aerial surveillance using advanced imaging systems. I thoroughly enoyed my time in service and my ob, but I felt my life was leading me in a different direction. I served the Navy for 8 years when I realized acoustic warfare was not my passion and that I wanted to pursue a career that I loved.


In the spring of 2012 I decided to leave the Navy, a decision that changed my life. At that time, I was still unsure of what career path I should choose.


“What do I want to do when I grow up?” I asked myself. 


My skills as an acoustic analyst, I thought, could not transfer to a civilian ob and I felt stuck. That’s when I decided to scan through every taxable career available in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and noted obs that seemed appealing. After researching professions, I narrowed down my list to engineering, the sciences (particularly Earth sciences), and historian. In retrospect, I am grateful I did not choose engineering, physics II circuits answered that question, and finding work as a historian seem very narrow. It wasn’t until I explored positions offered in the geosciences that I grasped the many career opportunities and pathways avail- able to aspiring geologists. It occurred to me that my training from the Navy could cross over too. As an acoustic specialist, I would collect my data in the field, analyze, and report my findings; exactly what a scientist does. Secondly, I was excited that this was a path I had always dreamed of following but for some reason thought unattainable. This gave me inspiration and hope that there was life after the military.


There were other motivations for my deciding to pursue a career outside of the military. First I want to say, the mili- tary is an excellent career but some service members can be close-minded about the prospect of moving on from the armed forces before the standard “twenty-years-service.” Particular individuals I worked with believed there was no life outside of the military. They tried to discourage people who wanted to move on to a different career outside the service. A few of my superiors, some of my peers, and even family members have said to me that I would most likely fail if I left the Navy. My mother-in-law even told me “geology is a dead science and that we already know everything we need to know about the Earth.” This kind of uninformed negativism sparked addi- tional motivation within myself to achieve my dreams, prove them wrong, and share the amazing opportunities available within the geosciences.


Today, I am living my dream. I have worked hard to achieve my goals including; acceptance to a very competitive intern- ship, developed relationships with individuals in industry through the GSA/ExxonMobil Bighorn Basin Field award, pre- sented my research at various professional meetings, and took initiative at my university as president of our AAPG chapter. My successes have paved a bright future for my family and me in the geosciences and are a testament to my enoyment for the field that I am in. The steadfast support from my wife and daughter has been my foundation, she is my rock and I could not do it with out her. I still cannot believe that someday I will be getting paid to do what I love. I am a firm believer if you do what you love you never work a day in your life.


Anna Schuh, SA-7590


Curiosity killed the Cat – but not the Geologist!


I want to become a geologist because I am curious. I am curi- ous for the unknown and undis- covered. The travel bug bit me at a young age and I have been hap- pily infected ever since. However, I do not ust want to see the world, I want to understand it.


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