If everything goes well (fingers crossed, knock on wood, and other unscientific anti-jinx methods) this is my last semester in the lab. I plan to write over the summer, and defend my thesis in the fall.
After that, I want to do two things: write about science and teach science. Research, at least wet lab research, just isn’t something I should be doing for at least some time. I might miss the bench and change my mind, but it’s been nothing but frustration to me these past eight years (MSc work included). Timers beeping, things that need to be done at very specific times in a very specific way, repeating everything a gazillion times – first because it doesn’t work, and then when it finally does work you repeat it another gazillion times for reproducibility. Gah!
I always hoped I would at some point get a lot of great data and feel better about it. I’ve had great data, but the Great Data Induced High only lasted until the next failed experiment. I’ve gotten a lot better at interpreting such situations as (sigh) “learning experiences”, but that doesn’t mean that I like these learning experiences.
What I do like very much is talking about research.

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