The Academic Life

I've been in academic settings for my entire life, starting at the tender age of four.  I'm thirty now, and it's no exaggeration to say that I love school.  I'm good at school.  While my path into the academic life has not always been fun or easy, it has been immensely rewarding in intellectual and philosophical ways.  I have written a number of posts in which I ruminate on various aspects of my life as an academic, starting with graduate school and then on into the postdoc years, which is the current stage in my career development.  I thought I'd gather a list of all those posts in one place.  Feel free to hop around and read what you like.  If you're confused about the chronology of things, you can check out my About page to learn more about my journey.


Thanks for reading!


Graduate School


* Determination and Grit Despite Myself
* On perseverance: Ph.D. or Bust 
* The first paper acceptance: Faith, Science, and Success
* On failure in graduate school: In Case of Emergency
* Late-night paper submission: The Push
* Finally, my first-author paper is accepted: Accepted
* An author's job is never done: When the Stars Align with Basil
* Writing my thesis: Midnight Roasting
* Interviewing for postdoc positions: One Snazzy Batch
* Accepting a postdoc position: A Rainbow to the South
* When the thesis is almost done: Keep Moving 
* My thesis defense: Three Little Letters
* My first visit to Texas, ever: Texas, Betwixt and Between
* Saying good-bye and packing up to leave Evanston: Among the Boxes 
* The sadness of moving to Texas: Circles




The Postdoc Years


* On failure, project collapse, and not quitting: On Perseverance
* Funding, or the lack thereof: On Resilience
* {For Hard Times} Survival Strategies, Part One: On Weight and Worry
* {For Hard Times} Survival Strategies: Part Two: On Wallet
* Grant Watch 2012
* On Writing and Keeping the Faith
* Guest Post on Girl with the Red Hair: Featured Career: Scientist
* Thursday Up/Down: Nerd Version!
* Granted, I'm Exhausted
* Life, Lately: Grant-Writing Edition
* On grant-writing and no regrets: Don't Hold Back