Elon Price is an NC State alumnus who graduated in 2019 and is a current physics PhD candidate at Auburn University. The Nubian Message was able to interview Price about her experience as a black woman in a STEM field.
Price didn’t enter physics until after she enrolled at State. “I think I started out with the idea that everything was going to be smooth sailing. I had never taken a physics course in high school. I had to do work study and get another job to pay for school. There was a disconnect with the physics community. A lot of people were shocked that I was working so many hours. That kind of culture difference made me feel isolated. It was starting to weigh on me.”
With her rigorous academic schedule, Price managed to participate in various extracurricular activities, including The Nubian Message, the African Student Union and the National Society of Black Physicists. Price says she wouldn’t have succeeded without them. “Community like that gave me the motivation to suffer through more physics,” she said. “If I didn’t have that, I would have been truly struggling.”
The isolation Price experienced in the NC State physics department was tough, but transformative; she acknowledged the power of speaking up for herself, being surrounded by diverse groups of people and enjoying the tight-knit community around her.
“Being a black woman in physics— there’s very few of us. I think there’s a list online. The connection to the black community…the importance of that in physics is invaluable. They have stereotypes about you because there’s not many of you there. You need to have that support of the community,” she said.
Her journey didn’t halt when she started graduate school. Before attending Auburn University for her PhD, Price said her time at Fisk and Vanderbilt University’s Master’s-to-PhD Bridge Program changed her outlook on a career in physics. She said she couldn’t have made it without connections fostered during her undergraduate career.
“The first time that I applied, I didn’t get into grad school. That was pretty sad because my whole motivation to go to college was to get a PhD,” She said. “Luckily through all of my leadership and science communication opportunities, I met all these people and accidentally networked. The Bridge Program is basically a bunch of institutions that are working to support people from some underrepresented background. It was drastically different from the physics department at State. I remember the first day I got there, the director gave me a hug.”
Price is well-rounded—Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Elon Price didn’t get here overnight. She reflects on how hard life can be, even if you love your work.
“Before I joined Nubian Message, I was way too awkward and shy to do any of that stuff. I love physics so much—I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. But I wanted to give up many times. And as a black woman, as a woman of color, you’re dealing with not one thing but 500 million things.”
The motivation, she says, isn’t something you create on your own — it’s a combination of different aspects of your life, which includes community support. “Black women,” she said, “Don’t think about it, just do it.”
