Plan 2.0

[oceantheorem]

I saw whales for the first time when I was three. We were in a tiny little boat in the bay near Anchorage, and we got caught in the middle of a pod of beluga whales surfacing to breathe. I was awed. When I was seven my dad took me to Sea World and I fell in love with Shamu and the other dolphins. I asked my dad what kind of job let you work with dolphins, and he told me that those people were marine biologists. I decided right then that I was going to be a "marine biologist," whatever that was. A few years later, during Ocean Week at my elementary school, a marine biologist brought a whole bunch of neat stuff and let us paw through it. All the other kids were shocked and amazed and had no idea what most of the stuff was (seal fur, whale bones, etc.), but I'd done enough reading by that time that I knew exactly what was going on. So I pulled the guy aside and said something along the lines of, "Dude, I want to know more." I have very little memory of this, but somehow I convinced the guy to bring all the stuff to my house after school to show my mom. We sat and looked at stuff and he told me I needed to get a Ph.D. to be a marine biologist. By this time I knew what a marine biologist was, obviously, but I had NO CLUE what a Ph.D. was. But I decided right then and there that I was getting one.

I didn't change my mind AT ALL until the summer after my freshman year of college (I picked UCSC based on its awesome marine bio program, coupled with its emphasis on undergraduate research). I took organic chemistry, fell in love with molecules, and changed my major to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (to be honest, I still thought I might end up in Marine Bio, just 'cause I'd loved it so much for so long). It was kind of a shock to my system when I realized I was never going to make the switch from molecules to organisms. Organisms--blech!

Anyway, I knew I was still gonna go to grad school, because dude, that was in the original plan. So, after a little wavering, I applied all over, set my heart on UCSF, got in all over, and came to Yale. And I'm now facing a couple of decisions.
The first is which lab/department to join. There are three departments to choose from: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Cell Biology, or Genetics. I never imagined myself getting a Ph.D. in Genetics (dude, where did Genetics come from? somewhere over in left field...), but the lab I love is a Genetics lab.
The second is, you know, what to do with my life after graduate school, 'cause the plan never included what happened after the Ph.D..

So I finally, just tonight, made a new Plan. The Plan, Version 2.0.

Step 1) Join the Genetics lab.
Step 2) Get Ph.D. in Genetics.
Step 3) Do postdoc in Liz Blackburn's lab at UCSF.
Step 4) Get a faculty job at Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, or UCSD.
Step 5) Become famous scientist who puts up with teaching requirements.

I hope TA'ing is a good experience for me. Otherwise I might have to scratch steps 4 and 5 and just open a flower shop after my postdoc.

Comments

[antidwarf.livejournal.com]

Yes but didn't we also decide that you should listen to me more often?

Yeah you probably should keep to the regular ole genetics. We need to spread our brains out among the fields so no particular field gets too jealous. Cuz we're the smartest bitches here! =P

[oceantheorem.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, we DID agree that, but that doesn't mean I've actually started listening. :-P Although, like I said, it's harder to ignore you in type.

Bleh, I dunno about genetics. I want me some hardcore biochem.
Okay, not really. But at least some softcore cell bio.

YOU GOT INTO WOODS HOLE!!! Damn. You rock.