It's about to hit the fan. . .

Ok y'all,

If you've been reading these past 2+ years you probably noticed that I'm a bit confused about my career goals right now. I've gone from "I want to be a scientist at a tier 1 university and have a life too" to "Forget that, I'm going into business!". But the truth is, I still don't know what God has planned for me. So I took a leap of faith and applied for a position that my friend turned me onto. . .she's leaving and needs someone to take over. Here the duties of the job are to:

(1) increase the enrollment of underrepresented students pursuing a graduate degree in the sciences

(2) ensure the successful completion of their Ph.D. by providing flexible curricula, personal mentoring, and professional development training

(3) prepare these students to transition into competitive postdoctoral and faculty positions by providing them the opportunity to present their research at local, regional, and national meetings.

"Basically, by creating a support network for these
students and combining it with professional
development training (such as a scientific skills
course: how to write grants, papers, make posters,
presentations), we believe we can make any student
with the drive and dedication a great scientist.
It's a great job for someone who is a little mad at
grad school and wants to make it better."

Umm. . .this job is perfect for me!!! So I applied. The only catch--they need someone by August/September and I'm aiming for an October end date. On top of that, I just read an abstract that describes my project only this lab actually completed the project--not me. And I'm trying to get an experimental system that I created to work and it's not working. And my committee said that they want to see me in July and they want to see me with data so I can have permission to write but I can't show them data if I can't get the system working! And I feel like every experiment determines if I'm going to graduate or not!--NO PRESSURE HERE (said very sarcastically)!

Whew! Getting that out was a relief. So, after I freaked out, I sat down and I made a decision. I'm graduating this year and if I get the job above, I'm gonna work the timing out. I had to step up my game, wake up and get with the program. If I'm gonna get scooped, I'll just have to determine the next step and go from there. I'm gonna try some different approaches with this expermental system and make it work. I have to start writing!!!! I just have to because the next 6 months are gonna be bad enough and I have to de-stress wherever possible.

I can do this, I know I can. And I will repeat this phrase as much as I have to. I've been struggling with leaving the bench or pushing myself through a post-doc and remaining miserable. At least in the position above, I'm doing something that helps others and I can see the impact that will be made. Once I'm in that position, I can look at my career options subjectively, take a few business classes and decide if that's the way to go.

So look forward to frantic and/or procrastinating (while writing) posts. It 's going to be a wild ride!

Happy Juneteenth!

A friend of mine wished me a happy Juneteenth today. You can read more about Juneteenth history here. At first I thought, "Why would I want to celebrate the delay of freedom to enslaved Africans in Texas?" Seems kind of shady to celebrate how we got the shaft after the civil war ended. But then I read the history and realized that this the only official state holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the US. Despite the fact that freedom was 2+ years late for enslaved Africans in Texas, I think that we should celebrate it after all. We need to remember that a large majority of African-Americans did not arrive in this country by accident and we've come a long way despite a very painful past. I wanna send a special Happy Juneteenth to all my Loc'd sistas in Texas. How do/did you celebrate Juneteenth? Let a Chi-town gal know (:

Featuring. . .Lonlon!

My 12 year old niece Lonlon has published a blog this month and I'm very impressed. She's given insightful commentary on some really cool topics but I haven't seen a lot of comments. So stop by and "conversate" I'm sure she'll appreciate it.

Wrap a Loc!

Here's a shameless plug for a new product for all you product junkies! Its a tool that will give your locs a straw set! Check out pics here. What I like is that you wear the style with the tool in and out of your hair. Lemme know what you think.

May was a busy month!

Hey peoples!

Last month was too busy! There was many a photo op and you know I had to take it. First, I was a bridesmaid for a friend whom I've known since 7th grade. Although she lives far away all I have to do is call her on the phone or make a visit and it's like I saw her yesterday. The wedding was really a blessed event. I enjoyed seeing her and her family. And I also made a lot of great friends in the bridesmaids and the grooms family. As far as hair, mine didn't get in the way (: One of the bridesmaids had traditional locs and her style was on point! I really enjoyed myself and I wish the new couple all my best!

Exactly one week later, James and I took a road trip to attend my "play" cousin's graduation party. I am so proud of her!!!! My girl is 24 years old and she just graduated from medical school. Although she was in Wisconsin, devoid of cultural fun, she's about to kick it up a notch and pursue an Opthamology research fellowship at Emory in Atlanta. Any tips on settling in? I'll pass them on (: She's incredibly sweet I only see great adventures in her future (:.

On the career tip. . .I've been conducting informational interviews. So far I've meet with someone in tech transfer and another person who consults for a biotech consulting firm. I also received some great advice from Brunsli about approaching VC from the patent law route. I really appreciate the help, thanks lady! (: So far I'm still interested in the business side of science so I'm going to continue investigating this route. I'll keep you updated. As far as my research, its coming slowly but surely. I've revised my end date to October 31--which is the date for submitting the first draft of my dissertation to the library. I'm writing it here because the more I say it, the more I'm going to believe it! That day is not to far away so its all about progress now.

Unfortunately, I've been gone for a while but I have too many photo's that I want to share so you may see random posts (outdated) in the near future. . .stay tuned.