There are days when I just love my research group! We have a meeting once a week, every week, and it can be torture sometimes. But there are rare weeks, when that hour or so is just refreshing. Today was one of those days.
The group was supportive, encouraging, and the meeting was just fun. In grad school I don't feel like I got a lot of good scientific discussion outside of the classroom and I think that's what I love most about where I am now.
Today was amazing. Last week was too now that I think about it. I'm not sure if this is because I'm finally starting (after a year) to feel comfortable with this group, or if I'm just finding my voice as a scientist, but I love it!
I love feeling like I can contribute to the group. That I can understand and follow conversations that a year ago were foreign. And I really love that I feel like I'm being heard.
Anyway, in a world where really good days and really good meetings are few and far between, it's amazing to have a day when things just feel right!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
A little about myself
I guess it's time to tell you a little about myself. I finished my Ph.D. a little over a year ago in a broad field at the intersection of social science and life science. I've since left grad school city (GRC) and moved to post-doc city (PDC) where I am much happier.
I put most of my life on hold to focus on grad school. This may not have been the best decision, but it worked for me. So now I'm rediscovering life with weekends and enjoying every second. My significant other (SO) is in a related field which makes for some fun and lively dinner-table discussions. We moved together from GRC to PDC and have been so much happier now that we are out of GRC.
Grad school was a challenge for me. I had a difficult advisor to work with. In the grand scheme of things he wasn't that bad (I've heard stories of much worse advisors) but it was a struggle for me to work with him. He is a great person, just not the best at guidance. But despite those challenges, and many others that may or may not make it into the blog, I've finished and escaped!
I did the post-doc job search mostly on my own. I'm not sure how I managed, but I pulled it off and am more proud of that accomplishment that just about any other. Not only did I find a job for myself but I managed to be able to help SO to find one as well. It worked out better than I could have ever imagined! This is likely due to my skill set/area of expertise that enables me to adapt to many different lab environments.
It's been an interesting year full of firsts. This is the first time I've moved as an adult from the state I grew up in, and I've been doing all kinds of activities that I never thought I'd try.
This is all inentionally vague, but it should give you a little better sense of who I am.
I put most of my life on hold to focus on grad school. This may not have been the best decision, but it worked for me. So now I'm rediscovering life with weekends and enjoying every second. My significant other (SO) is in a related field which makes for some fun and lively dinner-table discussions. We moved together from GRC to PDC and have been so much happier now that we are out of GRC.
Grad school was a challenge for me. I had a difficult advisor to work with. In the grand scheme of things he wasn't that bad (I've heard stories of much worse advisors) but it was a struggle for me to work with him. He is a great person, just not the best at guidance. But despite those challenges, and many others that may or may not make it into the blog, I've finished and escaped!
I did the post-doc job search mostly on my own. I'm not sure how I managed, but I pulled it off and am more proud of that accomplishment that just about any other. Not only did I find a job for myself but I managed to be able to help SO to find one as well. It worked out better than I could have ever imagined! This is likely due to my skill set/area of expertise that enables me to adapt to many different lab environments.
It's been an interesting year full of firsts. This is the first time I've moved as an adult from the state I grew up in, and I've been doing all kinds of activities that I never thought I'd try.
This is all inentionally vague, but it should give you a little better sense of who I am.
Monday, June 25, 2012
This week
So it's Monday. I'm not a fan of Monday. It means the start of another week and my weeks all feel so LONG!
I figure the first thing I'll do is to tell you what my plans are for the week. You can help keep me accountable! My biggest goal is to read more papers and to try to figure out the last piece of the puzzle for a manuscript I'm working on. My secondary goal is to keep working on figuring out a new-ish method that I'm working on.
I'm trying to learn how to balance working on the manuscript from my last job while getting work done at the new one. This has been harder than I thought. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Later this week I'll tell you more about who I am and what I do. But for now I'm off to work.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Hello World,
So this is my first attempt at blogging after reading other people's blogs for years. My hope for this blog is similar to many others, to get me to write more. I'm not a big fan of writing (I would much rather read) so hopefully this will be an outlet for me to start really finding my voice both as a scientist and as a regular person. I'm not sure what the content will be yet, I think that will just have to develop organically but that can come later. For now, I think I just need to jump in.I have two big issues with blogging that have kept me from doing this sooner. First, that someone will figure out who I am. I'm likely to say snarky things (I think them all the time but don't have a great outlet for them) so they may end up here. I'm afraid that after I say something snarky, if people know who I am, that this blog will have some negative long-term consequences for my career. Second, and really quite self-centered, that no one will read the blog, or that they will read it and think it's just crap. So please, if you read this, please let me know! I'm likely to chicken out and not keep up with this if I think people don't care. It's stupid and juvenile, but...
So please join me on this adventure through my post-doc time and hopefully into an TT job. If it's anything like my grad school experience it should be one hell of a ride.
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