COSAM News Articles 2024 01 COSAM Graduation Marshal seeks career in defense industry then plans on influence the next generation as a professor

COSAM Graduation Marshal seeks career in defense industry then plans on influence the next generation as a professor

Published: 08/02/2024

By: Maria Gebhardt

“It is a huge honor to be selected from all of the outstanding students in this graduating class,” said Alyssa Jorda, the Summer 2024 Graduation Marshal for the College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSAM).

Jorda will carry the yellow flag into the commencement ceremony representing her entire class.

As a physics alumna, she will be returning to her hometown of Huntsville and soon begin the start of her career at a major company in the defense industry. Jorda had been providing tours and working with the company as a student.

When she reflects on her time at Auburn, she has wonderful memories of her fellow students in the Department of Physics.

“Physics is a small major, so we created our on cohort where we could study together and help each other,” she said. “I made a lot of great friends that I got to study with and built relationships with every semester.”

While she was an undergraduate student, Jorda conducted research on the optical payload for Auburn University’s Small Satellite Program and was an active member in Sigma Pi Sigma, Physics Honor Society, and the Society of Physics Students.

She always knew that she would pursue a degree in physics.

“I took physics classes in high school and really loved the way the course work challenged me and required more critical thinking than just memorizing the information,” she said. “Physics makes you change the way you think about problems.”

In the future, she is anticipating earning a master’s degree. However, her goal is to return to the field of physics one day.

“When I get closer to retirement age, I would like to be a physics teacher,” added Jorda. “Hopefully, by that time, science will already be more diverse. If not, I think it would be awesome to influence younger women to pursue STEM fields.”