Meet Michelle Wang | Singer Songwriter & Physics Graduate Student/Researcher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Wang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
As a singer-songwriter who is also a full-time graduate student in physics, I find work-life balance to be a bit challenging but still doable. I find song writing and performing very relaxing and that’s what I would do when I need a break from research. It used to be the case where if I want to perform more gigs or release more singles I would sacrifice some time in research lab, or vice versa. There always has been something I am sacrificing, like my music career development, sleep, or social life. Nowadays I keep a planner and journal to make sure I am asking myself to be productive in both fields that I am pursuing while not overwork myself, and that I would prioritize my mental health and physical health over accomplishing things. Yet it is still a long journey of learning because in the real world, self-care is really hard to do when we have a lot of ambitions and the to-do list is long. I think it’s important for all of us to recognize the importance of self-care and work-life balance and that we should initiate conversations regarding that in every field. At the end of the day, our mental and physical health is the most fundamental of what keep us going.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Sure! My name is Michelle (Jing) Wang and I am a singer-songwriter. I live in Atlanta, Georgia now and am working towards my Ph.D. in physics. I fell in love with music at a very young age while living in China where I started to learn classical piano at the age of 4. I have been writing my own songs since I was 8 years old and started learning guitar at the age of 11. I moved to San Diego soon after, and started recording and producing music. My music identifies with acoustic pop, folk, and R&B. I produced and released my first single “Yesterday” at the age of 16 and have been constantly releasing original and cover songs ever after. I also have some experience in opera and musical theatre in high school and college where I took part in performances of “Les Miserables”, “Rent”, “Le Nozze di Figaro” as a mezzo-soprano.

As a physicist, I have been doing research in experimental soft matter physics since my freshman year at the University of San Diego as an undergrad in 2017 and fell in love with research. I published my first first-author scientific journal article on “Soft Matter” in 2019 and gave various talks and poster presentations at national conferences such as the APS (American Physical Society) March Meeting. I started attending Emory University to pursue my Ph.D. degree in physics at the age of 21 and plan to keep studying soft matter physics.

I am proud of being a woman in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and I am proud to represent Asians in my field. I am working on building social media pages (on Tiktok and Instagram) and hope to inspire other girls to be in the scientific field. Women have always been underrepresented and I am really excited for the possibility that I can potentially change that. Being a woman in STEM is not easy though, as we do still face challenges such as misogynistic comments and the mindset that we would need to work extra hard just to win respect from other colleagues. It’s not easy to overcome these challenges. For one, I would need to be not bothered by what people say and be more secure with who I am as a person. Additionally, we need to initiate conversation within the scientific community addressing these problems.

As a person in STEM in general, I think we still face lots of problems especially ones linked to mental health – imposter syndrome, burn out, depression, anxiety, etc. Personally I have struggled with ADHD. I think within the scientific community there should be more resources available and more conversations regarding mental health.

I would like the world to know my story as a researcher and my struggles and hope to initiate more conversations regarding women in STEM and mental health. And with my music, I hope to deliver the message to the world that you can do what you are passionate about and pursue more than one career at once.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
For brunch or lunch I would take my friend to Le Bon Nosh. It’s a cute all-day coffee shop with a lot of options for food in the Buckhead neighborhood. Then I would take my friend to Piedmont Park or Lullwater Park for a walk because it’s super relaxing at both locations. After we would go grab dinner at either Virginia Highland or Midtown, where we can easily go out to bars/nightclubs afterwards. We would also go check out Joystick Gamebar where they have a lot of video games and board games and is really fun.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank my family, friends, and my mentors. My family has been oversea but they have been beyond supportive with my careers as a musician and a physicist. My friends have always been by my side and have given me incredible support in every way possible and they have been my family here in Atlanta. They make me feel safe and inspire me every day. And lastly, I want to thank my mentors at both Emory University and University of San Diego. Without them, I would not be where I am as a physics researcher today.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellee__wang/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-jing-wang-6aaa21158/

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QT8CakWSIfxSBgSUbpJqc?si=S4aSrgT1SiOCYCE4IfWazg Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hqqHpR0AAAAJ&hl=en&inst=15365353816232672843