Grad School Blues

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Sometimes graduate school feels like diving into a lake on an early summer morning.  You know the cold will be shocking, but you feel confident that you’ll adjust.  You can’t quite see below the surface of the water, but you’re excited to submerge your head and open your eyes.  You swim out away from the shore.  It’s challenging.  And thrilling.  You’re testing yourself, and your body is responding. It’s downright joyful.

Sometimes, it’s like that dream you have just as you’re drifting off to sleep, where you feel like you’re falling.  You’re stomach and your heart are up in your throat.  You realize, on some level, that if you had the presence of mind to check, you’d probably actually be wearing a parachute.  But you can’t check, so you don’t.  And, in all likelihood, you’ll wake up with a gasp in your own bed, finding you aren’t falling at all, though you’ll still feel it in the pit of your stomach.  But you’ll go back to sleep, and when you wake up, you’ll probably think “Hey, I think I’d like a swim.”

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An Earnest Desire to Save the World

“TEACHER seeks pupil.
Must have an earnest desire to save the world.
Apply in person.” –Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

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As I continue to creep (crawl? stumble blindly? drag myself?) toward the completion of my PhD I have begun seriously contemplating what exactly I want to do when I grow up.  Progress has been slow and circuitous, much like this essay.  But I feel calmer than I did when I first realized “Be an ecologist!” had stopped being enough of an answer.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  

Regardless, I’ve been trying to take steps toward actually figuring this thing out for myself.  A bit of soul searching, a la Chelsea’s advice about a happiness brainstorm, really helped.  I’m happiest when I can travel but have a solid home base to return to, so I’m no longer prioritizing an academic career and the period of post-doctoral transience that usually comes along with it.  I’m happiest when I’m collaborating with lots of different folks who I can teach and learn from all the time.  I’m happiest when I can do public speaking and science communication, and I’d love to find a position where this is encouraged, valued, and incentivised.  I’m happiest when what I am working on makes a tangible difference.    Continue reading “An Earnest Desire to Save the World”

National Park in a Day: Yosemite

I like to think of STS as a Science Lifestyle Blog, or basically a mash-up of my two favorite types of blogs to read.  This is a slice of life, outdoor travel essay.  If you enjoy seeing this sort of content on the blog, please let us know!  

The end of spring is always a busy travel time for me.  The bulk of my dry season field work is done in July and August, so I often find myself traveling home or to fun destinations (thanks wedding season!) to celebrate and visit with friends and family in late May or early June.  This year has proved no exception, as my husband and I spent two weeks traveling for various family events, squeezing in visits with friends and working on projects remotely along the way.  If you’re interested in the full escapade, you can check the highlights on my Instagram.  We are both on the introverted side of the scale, and after nearly two weeks of almost constant social interaction, even though it was tons of fun, we decided a break to recharge our batteries was in order.  What better way to do that than to escape into the great outdoors?

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Deer grazing near Lukens Lake

We had originally planned to take our first couple’s backpacking trip, as D has never been backpacking and we have plans to go during part of our honeymoon next summer.  However, by the time the end of our two week trip actually arrived, we were trashed tired.  We also decided we really needed to be adults and get home a day earlier than we had originally planned due to work concerns.  That left us only one night and a day.  In the end, we opted to visit Yosemite National Park.  D had never been, and I was itching to see the look on his face the first time we entered Yosemite Valley. Continue reading “National Park in a Day: Yosemite”