Thursday, January 10, 2013

Bad lab blogger!

Sorry for the web silence lately. I've been applying to grad schools and waiting to hear back from grad schools and I've been so wanting to write about the process but also I was kind of freaked out that if I didn't get in anywhere then why the heck would anyone want to read about what I thought about applying to grad schools...but I also realize that maybe that's not the point of this blog, or why I like writing, or science, or whatever, so web silence will end...soon.

I'll write about the whole process and my experiences with applying, and finding letter writers, and deciding what to focus on in my personal statement, but I'll start out right now saying this.

I got my first rejection yesterday. Berkeley. Which was not entirely unexpected for reasons I will go into later (I promise!), but here's the best thing to come out of it.

I was making coffee in the break room when my PI came in, and he asked me how I was doing, so I told him, "I got my first rejection yesterday."

His reaction?

"Get over it."

Which...was awesome. And exactly what I needed to hear. And exactly why I love academia, and why I know I'm so ready for grad school. I feigned surprise at his response, of course, and he replied, "What did you want me to say, go home and feel sorry for yourself? You know you're wanted other places, get over it."

He actually added one more expletive in there, but it seems slightly unnecessary here.

Because yeah, what am I going to do, wallow? Nope, gonna get over it.

(I received some less than nice responses, one from another tech on my floor, "Oh you probably just weren't good enough to get in." That's cool. I'm cool.)

But that's just, the way of the world, you know?

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