Everyone
take a base.
You all watched me get the
sign, settle into my wind up, begin my throw towards home plate, and then stop
cold. Indeed, it looked something like
this:
Starting
last summer, my husband and I had become slightly bored with our lives. We were dreaming of an adventure in the form
of moving abroad. He was thinking of his
career and the possibilities such a move would bring. I was considering the excitement and the
dream I’d always had of living overseas.
At the same time, I was unhappy at my job and longed to do something
different within my scientific career. I
had been wearing my thinking cap for a long time and finally decided that
scientific writing would be an opportunity that would blend science, living abroad,
and the future possibility of being around to raise a kid (let’s be honest, I’m
married and of that age when kids hop on the radar). Both of us had committed and agreed to try
and make this dream a reality.
We kept
hoping one of us would gain a foothold in his respective career that would
launch us to London. By December, we
were tired and more frustrated than ever with our lack of forward progress
despite pursuing lots of avenues. On top
of that, our apartment lease was running out in May so we really were facing a
time crunch. Six extra months at my job
was pushing me over the edge and we weren’t sure how much longer we could
pursue this dream before it was damaging.
Times are murky when you’re waiting for a spark to ignite your future.
But
then in early January, I was offered an interview at one of the most
prestigious scientific journals in the world.
I was ecstatic. I was over the
moon. I was nearly beside myself. …I was underwhelmed and disappointed once it
was over. It was the weirdest shift. Seeing “Mecca,” as I called it for my
interview, pulled the rug out from under me; like meeting a celebrity and
realizing they aren’t as nice as you imagined them to be. I became hesitant and confused about going
into scientific writing.
Regardless,
I was still leaving my job; I was done being so unhappy. My paper had been accepted for publication
and the time was right. Starting in
early February, I became an unemployed scientist who officially stopped looking
for scientific writing jobs. My husband
also admitted defeat in the job transfer to London, so we dropped our
expectations to Plan B: buying a home. In the meantime, I de-stressed, started running
regularly again, cooked dinners and visited friends in Boston.
By
early March, I was recruited by an old colleague and taken on by a wonderful
lab at my graduate research institution.
I was back home to where I had been happiest in science and gotten there
in a very ass-backwards way. Sure, that’s
life.
My
husband and I also bought our first home.
It’s a whirlwind, tiring, and the list of projects we want to do seems
never-ending. But, it’s satisfying and
nice. We even have window boxes!
My
current job is wonderful. I’m surrounded
by higher ups who want good things for me and are willing to get me the
experience I need. I’ve been given great
projects that are in an area of science that I find most interesting. I’m also building my resume to suit a
pharmaceutical industry job and think I’ll be able to make the leap in about a
year. That’s not to say that my previous
job that caused me so much pain was a bad decision or I wish it had never
happened. I learned a great deal there
and I’m grateful for the time I spent, the papers I wrote, and the people I
worked with. Life is all about growing
and challenging yourself.
What
about moving abroad? Well, we have a
house that is ours and can be rented out in the future if we decide to
leave. We also will have a place to
leave our stuff, which is rather awesome.
If we have a kid in tow when we go, well then his world just be that
much richer and fuller for experiencing a new culture at a young age. I also hear that pharma companies are very
amenable to employees who are willing to work abroad. I think we’ll get there; right now was not the time, however.
As for
my blog? I’m back. Just because I chose to not pursue a career
in science writing at this time doesn’t mean that I still don’t enjoy it and
wouldn’t consider it in the future. If
this time of upheaval has taught me anything, it’s that we all have to be ready
for what comes around the corner. Who
knows what it will be?
