... Or at least a blue whale.
Day Five - Friday
Feeling of the day: Determined.
It was a pretty laid-back day. After the wild night of Manatee Mayhem, no one really wanted (or were able) to concentrate on lots of talks in the morning. So I went to a few, just the ones I thought I'd really get something out of, but spent a lot of the day sleeping and exploring downtown Tampa.
The reason the feeling of the day was determined was that I found myself with a really strong grasp on what I want my Masters to look like. And I think that while it's problematic to close yourself in too much, because then you lose out on opportunities, it's important to know your limits and what is going to make you happy. An opportunity is torture when you are miserable.
So I started working through a lot of that during the week, but today it was finalized in my mind.
I don't want to go to school in the United States. I don't like the way their graduate school system works, it's ridiculously expensive and quite frankly, I really prefer Canada as a country and as a people. I've been asked if that means I wouldn't consider going farther abroad for school, but I think I'd be okay in another British-style country. Which works out for me, because that's where a lot of blue whale research goes on (for example: Australia. Or the UK).
Another thing I determined is the type of "perscientist" I want to be. Yes, I just made up the word 'perscientist'. It is a combination of 'person' and 'scientist', because with some people, they way they are professionally is different than the way they are personally, and that just doesn't sit right with me. Unfortunately, I am trying to throw myself into an exceptionally competitive field. So when it comes to other people in the same state of affairs as myself, it's natural to want to don fangs and claws and beat them at everything.
And I have met them all here. The people who are amazingly supportive of my dreams and offer lots of advice and names and business cards. And the ones that give you the once over when you express similar goals to theirs. It's part of the game, but you have to figure out what kind of 'perscientist' you want to be, because it's not enough to just be nice to those farther down the line. The best way to know someone's character is how they treat their direct competition.
Another thing (sorry this post has no flow!) is that over this week I got a lot of advice. Which is great, but can seem overwhelming as you try to sift through it all. That's why it's important to have a really clear idea of what will make you the most happy. Because it's really easy to feel like you have to take everyone's advice, because they've been around the field longer and do probably know better. But they don't know you better. So while one person was telling me all about places to try and get research spots pertaining to killer whales, I smiled and nodded and wrote them down, but in the back of my mind I was thinking 'I don't want to invest too much time into looking into all this until I know that my blue whale research will fall through.' And if there's is the smallest chance that I can start fulfilling dreams, I am going to take them, even if it's a little bit more work.
So advice: know your limits, be nice to the competition (one day they won't be competition anymore), be nice to those struggling beneath you (you were once them) and don't feel like you need to take everyone's advice all the time, because they don't know you as well as you do.
Wow. A whole five days of blogging. How do people do this on a regular basis? I should be going back to my sporadic updates now that I am back home in Sarasota and that the internship is winding down.
But something for all you readers to look forward to... 27 days until I land in Puerto Rico, then 12 days later I start my next internship!
Speak Loud!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
You May Say I'm a Dreamer...
...But I'm not the only one.
Day Four - Thursday
Feeling of the Day: Inspired.
I will honestly admit that I can't believe I've had something to say for every day of this conference. You would that that it would just get repetitive and dull, but in reality every day has brought new ideas and challenges, and I think that's a big part of my passion for this science.
Now I'll admit, not all my inspiration of the day came from the conference. While talking to a friend of mine teaching in Thailand, he was telling me all about his adventures on an elephant preserve. Now elephants are my favourite terrestrial animal, because they produce infrasound just like the loves of my life, the blue whales. But he was telling me these stories (called this because of the lack of scientific evidence, sorry TW!) about suicidal elephants. And that got me thinking about potential connections between the cognitive abilities of animals and their ability to commit suicide (as there have been known cases in dolphins as well, although no papers as of yet).
It's also made me wonder whether there is a connection between the social structure of an animal's grouping and their memory, as elephants are able to recognize the calls of dead martriarchs, and killer whales live in similarly structured pods.
Now, I'm not jumping off the boat just yet, because as you can see, I have connected these ideas to marine mammals, because I have not put in this much time, work, energy and sanity to not study marine mammals.
Add this to the myriad of topics swirling around this conference, and it almost makes me want to scream! There is so much science out there yet to be discovered, and it frustrates me that I can't seem to do it all!
I'm working full steam ahead to get in graduate school now that I have a much better understanding of the 'who's who' of the field. I think I have a decent shot of doing what I want to do for Master's, although the timeline of it all is still a little iffy. But now that I am asking a zillion (real number) additional questions, it makes me want to become a professor just to have student minions to do my bidding in the lab!
I don't think I want to give up my dreams in blue whale infrasound anytime soon, but all these other questions are just so intriguing, it's hard to just leave them alone. For the time being they are written down, and maybe if I get desperate or lucky, I'll have a chance to work on these projects on the side.
So I guess I should give some advice now... I guess it would be to not be afraid to branch out from what you think your singular goal is. A lot of biologists don't study the same thing for their entire lives, so you never know where your career is going to take you. Don't wait too long though, otherwise someone else might have the same idea as you (as I realize that once again, I've shared my own ideas with the general internet public... damn). At the same time, it's not always about having your name on the paper. Sometimes it's just about finding out the information. I'd almost be just as happy to hear the results of someone doing the work on these ideas than doing the research myself. Almost.
Friday might be a slow day. Everything is winding down, and Thursday night is the Student fundraiser party. It's going to be a late night!
Speak Loud!
PS. On another inspired note, if a certain newly created fund (you know what I'm talking about) has not already been promised to any particular organization, I think it should become a funding opportunity for Jewish females pursuing a career in the research sciences (emphasis on non-medical). Just saying.
Day Four - Thursday
Feeling of the Day: Inspired.
I will honestly admit that I can't believe I've had something to say for every day of this conference. You would that that it would just get repetitive and dull, but in reality every day has brought new ideas and challenges, and I think that's a big part of my passion for this science.
Now I'll admit, not all my inspiration of the day came from the conference. While talking to a friend of mine teaching in Thailand, he was telling me all about his adventures on an elephant preserve. Now elephants are my favourite terrestrial animal, because they produce infrasound just like the loves of my life, the blue whales. But he was telling me these stories (called this because of the lack of scientific evidence, sorry TW!) about suicidal elephants. And that got me thinking about potential connections between the cognitive abilities of animals and their ability to commit suicide (as there have been known cases in dolphins as well, although no papers as of yet).
It's also made me wonder whether there is a connection between the social structure of an animal's grouping and their memory, as elephants are able to recognize the calls of dead martriarchs, and killer whales live in similarly structured pods.
Now, I'm not jumping off the boat just yet, because as you can see, I have connected these ideas to marine mammals, because I have not put in this much time, work, energy and sanity to not study marine mammals.
Add this to the myriad of topics swirling around this conference, and it almost makes me want to scream! There is so much science out there yet to be discovered, and it frustrates me that I can't seem to do it all!
I'm working full steam ahead to get in graduate school now that I have a much better understanding of the 'who's who' of the field. I think I have a decent shot of doing what I want to do for Master's, although the timeline of it all is still a little iffy. But now that I am asking a zillion (real number) additional questions, it makes me want to become a professor just to have student minions to do my bidding in the lab!
I don't think I want to give up my dreams in blue whale infrasound anytime soon, but all these other questions are just so intriguing, it's hard to just leave them alone. For the time being they are written down, and maybe if I get desperate or lucky, I'll have a chance to work on these projects on the side.
So I guess I should give some advice now... I guess it would be to not be afraid to branch out from what you think your singular goal is. A lot of biologists don't study the same thing for their entire lives, so you never know where your career is going to take you. Don't wait too long though, otherwise someone else might have the same idea as you (as I realize that once again, I've shared my own ideas with the general internet public... damn). At the same time, it's not always about having your name on the paper. Sometimes it's just about finding out the information. I'd almost be just as happy to hear the results of someone doing the work on these ideas than doing the research myself. Almost.
Friday might be a slow day. Everything is winding down, and Thursday night is the Student fundraiser party. It's going to be a late night!
Speak Loud!
PS. On another inspired note, if a certain newly created fund (you know what I'm talking about) has not already been promised to any particular organization, I think it should become a funding opportunity for Jewish females pursuing a career in the research sciences (emphasis on non-medical). Just saying.
Reality Check
Day Three - Wednesday
Feeling of the day: Shamelessness.
I felt a lot less overwhelmed today, probably because I took some breaks when there wasn't a talk I was interested in. And I've already seen the most interesting of posters, so I could use those times as a break as well.
That being said, Wednesday was all about connecting for me. Networking using all means necessary in order to pursue my goals, which have been a lot better defined since I got here.
The feeling of the day was shamelessness because you have to be that in order to be able to walk up to a complete stranger, tell them your name and ask for a job/graduate position. I did that. You have to be ready to do that because you never know who you are going to meet.
As well, don't be afraid to use your peers or supervisors in the same way. When my boss from the DFO found out that my goal is to work with blue whales, he gave me a name and said he would introduce us if he got the chance. Don't use something like this as an excuse not to walk up and introduce yourself, but it's a good way of making things happen if you don't know what the person looks like.
Name drop. Seriously, it's not just about Hollywood celebrities. If you are working for a big name in the field, use it shamelessly, because that shows people that their colleagues have faith in your abilities or have trained you in some aspect, and that really means something to them. I've been dropping my DFO boss's name and the head supervisor of the dolphin project's name like they are hot around here, because they are well known people in their respected areas and having worked for them gives me a bit of a boost.
So even though it's sort of frowned upon in regular society, break that and do it, because you never know who's going to hire you based on it.
One piece of advice: have business cards. I didn't want to make any because I don't have an affiliation or even a permanent phone number, but I really should have just printed up just a hundred or so with my name, degree and email address to give out to people I am meeting here. Not that any of them would be the first to contact me, but then if I contact them in the future, they have something that reminds them of where and when they met me, so I'm less of a stranger.
Also print out copies of your CV. We don't have a printer in the apartment so I couldn't do this, but it's a suggestion I've been given in the past and really I think it's a good one. Because you might meet the boss/supervisor of your dream, and you won't want to wait until later to email them a copy.
I know that if my brain is becoming anything like the one's of these esteemed biologists, theirs must be complete mush and fried to a crisp and can barely retain what they ate for breakfast. So if you just meet them and leave them, they aren't going to remember you in an hour (that happened to me). So everything has to be fresh with them, which is why business cards and CVs are great ideas.
The evening had a workshop just for students, and I didn't hear a lot that I didn't already know. Make sure it's a passion and know what you are or are not willing to do to attain your goals. It's a tough process. Get used to ramen noodles. Learn to sleep 6 in a room because that's how you'll afford rent. I already know that I'm probably going to have to go back to a teaching job part time, even though you have no time to do anything once you're a Master's student. There's no money anywhere in this career.
So another piece of advice (I got this one from the pros): Try to get funding before you even apply for Masters. Or if you are sending out emails to professors, find out which ones will take you if you have funding versus the ones that really just can't take you on. Write a killer proposal for a project and start applying for everything. Literally everything.
One of the first things I'm going to do when I get home is start trying to piece together a proposal for a project I think I could make happen. It's going to be a tough process, but once you have a strong proposal you can use it for every grant you apply to, just tweaking it slightly here and there.
Okay, I think that's mostly what I wanted to say about Wednesday. Let's see what Thursday brings!
Speak Loud!
PS. I should say that on top of the feeling of the day, the feelings of the week are exhaustion and hunger. Because I refuse to pay lots for food, and half packs of ramen aren't very filling. I have never eaten so much crap in my life, but whatever my friends have left over I am scavenging like a vulture. Welcome to the life of a biologist.
Feeling of the day: Shamelessness.
I felt a lot less overwhelmed today, probably because I took some breaks when there wasn't a talk I was interested in. And I've already seen the most interesting of posters, so I could use those times as a break as well.
That being said, Wednesday was all about connecting for me. Networking using all means necessary in order to pursue my goals, which have been a lot better defined since I got here.
The feeling of the day was shamelessness because you have to be that in order to be able to walk up to a complete stranger, tell them your name and ask for a job/graduate position. I did that. You have to be ready to do that because you never know who you are going to meet.
As well, don't be afraid to use your peers or supervisors in the same way. When my boss from the DFO found out that my goal is to work with blue whales, he gave me a name and said he would introduce us if he got the chance. Don't use something like this as an excuse not to walk up and introduce yourself, but it's a good way of making things happen if you don't know what the person looks like.
Name drop. Seriously, it's not just about Hollywood celebrities. If you are working for a big name in the field, use it shamelessly, because that shows people that their colleagues have faith in your abilities or have trained you in some aspect, and that really means something to them. I've been dropping my DFO boss's name and the head supervisor of the dolphin project's name like they are hot around here, because they are well known people in their respected areas and having worked for them gives me a bit of a boost.
So even though it's sort of frowned upon in regular society, break that and do it, because you never know who's going to hire you based on it.
One piece of advice: have business cards. I didn't want to make any because I don't have an affiliation or even a permanent phone number, but I really should have just printed up just a hundred or so with my name, degree and email address to give out to people I am meeting here. Not that any of them would be the first to contact me, but then if I contact them in the future, they have something that reminds them of where and when they met me, so I'm less of a stranger.
Also print out copies of your CV. We don't have a printer in the apartment so I couldn't do this, but it's a suggestion I've been given in the past and really I think it's a good one. Because you might meet the boss/supervisor of your dream, and you won't want to wait until later to email them a copy.
I know that if my brain is becoming anything like the one's of these esteemed biologists, theirs must be complete mush and fried to a crisp and can barely retain what they ate for breakfast. So if you just meet them and leave them, they aren't going to remember you in an hour (that happened to me). So everything has to be fresh with them, which is why business cards and CVs are great ideas.
The evening had a workshop just for students, and I didn't hear a lot that I didn't already know. Make sure it's a passion and know what you are or are not willing to do to attain your goals. It's a tough process. Get used to ramen noodles. Learn to sleep 6 in a room because that's how you'll afford rent. I already know that I'm probably going to have to go back to a teaching job part time, even though you have no time to do anything once you're a Master's student. There's no money anywhere in this career.
So another piece of advice (I got this one from the pros): Try to get funding before you even apply for Masters. Or if you are sending out emails to professors, find out which ones will take you if you have funding versus the ones that really just can't take you on. Write a killer proposal for a project and start applying for everything. Literally everything.
One of the first things I'm going to do when I get home is start trying to piece together a proposal for a project I think I could make happen. It's going to be a tough process, but once you have a strong proposal you can use it for every grant you apply to, just tweaking it slightly here and there.
Okay, I think that's mostly what I wanted to say about Wednesday. Let's see what Thursday brings!
Speak Loud!
PS. I should say that on top of the feeling of the day, the feelings of the week are exhaustion and hunger. Because I refuse to pay lots for food, and half packs of ramen aren't very filling. I have never eaten so much crap in my life, but whatever my friends have left over I am scavenging like a vulture. Welcome to the life of a biologist.
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