"We learn by teaching -- James Howell"

A few weeks ago, after over a year in grad school, it hit me... I have no idea what I want to do after this. After college, the decision to go to grad school was a fairly easy one. I graduated from a college here in the US, and I wanted to stay here. My family is in Australia, and I didnt want to go there. Grad school was basically the best option. They would pay for my tuition, and pay me too! Perfect. I picked a PhD program because I didnt want to go for a Masters, finish in two years, then have to decide what to do. I figured 5 years working on a doctorate would give me time to learn and have an epiphany or something.
Now that I have been at this for a year; I have learnt about all or most of my options. I now know what other people are using their PhD degrees for...but I am nowhere closer to deciding what I will do. Right now, the thing looking more and more promising and attractive and relatively easy to do....is teaching. Wow! Even typing the word still freaks me out. I get flashes of my high school teachers...esp. the ones we made fun off...or the ones who had no idea what they were talking about...or the ones I totally just hated. The possibility that I could turn into one of them completely freaks me out.

Nonetheless, it kinda falls into place with the fact that I am a teaching assistant for one of the classes they teach over in the med school. Some clinical microbiology class for pre-med, pre-dental, and pre-nursing kids. I never, I mean never ever thought I would be saying this, but I am enjoying it. A lot. I love being the one who has all the answers. I love how shy they are and I have to work to make them loosen up. I love seeing their faces light up when they have an "Aha, I get it" moment. It's awesome.

So is this really what I want to do? Knock some sense into mostly reluctant-to-learn college kids? Do I want to be grading papers, and answering endless questions, and setting exams?? Right now I think the answer is yes.

Of demon possessed colleagues…

You know, grad school/research is hard enough on its own without the extra non-related issues that come along with it. I actually don’t mind most of those issues, but I’ve always hated it when other people make my life difficult (almost unbearable in this case) just for the hell of it. I hate it when other people bring misery and anger to other people and it completely SUCKS when you cannot do anything about it/them.

I work with a demon possessed man. Sometimes I don’t think he’s possessed and I am convinced he is just a demon, period. Physically he looks like a cross between a sumo wrestler and a long bearded rock star; so that’s one thing. Emotionally and mentally, I am told he grew up in a not so ideal home (think junkies and alchies) so he has a lot of pent up rage that he has now decided to unleash on us innocent unsuspecting co-workers. He is rude, inconsiderate, stubborn, brooding, and might just take a verbal swing at you for absolutely no reason at all. I was unscathed by his wrath for the first few months I worked here, until he discovered that I was dating another guy we work with, who just happens to be the demon’s arch rival. Sucks, right? I cannot stand the fact that the boss and the rest of the department know what a total jerk this dude is and do absolutely NOTHING about it. I am also not comfortable about the fact that ‘possessed’ just bought a gun. Yes, a pistol or something like that…for ‘target practice he says’…Lord save me…

So the point of this post wasn’t just to complain and whine… I am wondering if people like that who make everyone’s lives miserable ever really make it in life? The evil part of me really hopes they don’t, so that they never have a position of power that they could use to make everyone else as miserable as they are. I hope one day he needs a job really badly and I am the lady in power on the other side of the desk who will throw his application in the trash. The good part of me thinks that everyone deserves a chance and that one day he will meet a nice woman who will show him the error of his ways and have him calm and kind… Nah, I doubt it. No woman will get within 10feet of this dude.

For now, I will stay out his way, try to forget every mean thing he says to me as soon as he says it… I will try to control the urge to add water to all his reagents and buffers, or saw thru the legs of his chair. I will not find out where he lives and pour sugar into his gas tank. I will not. I will pray for him, no matter how hard it is, and hope he gets fired soon :)

Back to work,

Of women, feminism, and hidden biological clocks

I've been thinking about this for a while, and it seems once...maybe twice a week I meet yet another woman who confirms it. I am tired of women, single or otherwise, hiding their loneliness behind 'independence', 'feminism' and 'pursuing their career'. Put a sock in it ladies!

Maybe I am missing something here. Is there anything wrong with a 30-something year old woman being single and admitting that she is lonely? It seems all the women I know in that scenario come up with (sometimes plain ridiculous) reasons why they are where they are and why they are perfectly happy....even though someone with one astigmatic eye can tell they are desperately hoping for Prince Charming to show up...like yesterday. I mean seriously, I think the thicker the blanket of fakeness we hide behind and the more often we recite those lies...the more nights we'll spend crying and sighing.

I was talking to a lady at work today...she is a little over 30, still trying to establish a career... But she is a sterotypical home-maker... Follows all the Macy's and HomeGoods sale, matches her sheets to her kitchen towels etc. I can almost hear her body and heart screaming for a companion...kids...a home to take care of and decorate. However, Prince Charming apparently missed a turn or something and she decided to go back to school. So instead of admitting that she's waiting for him, she insists she doesnt want to marry, and isnt looking!!? Nxa mhan, so frustrating ladies.

Stop the bra burning, be true to yourself (and the rest of us), love your life, love where you're at. Dont be ashamed to admit what you need, dream it, go get it, dont wait for it to find you...and stop hiding your emotions!!

Yah sis,
MystiQue

Note to self in times of doubt

Dear MystiQue,
I have loved you before I knew you,
Maybe it was the force of my love,
and my passion for you to exist...
that made you exist.
I loved every part of you,
maybe it is my love for you that
formed your toes, that grew your fingers...
I loved the fire I felt in you
before you could breathe.
The passion in your heart even before it could beat...
I was awed at the promise of strength,
and the power of success that grew in you
day by day, year by year..
I have watched you grow, change, learn...
I have watched you cry, scream, doubt
I have watched you overcome, rise and get stronger still.
Now I see an amazingly beautiful woman before me
A woman who has been blessed with a mind and heart to envy
A woman man desire and women crave to be
I also see a human.
With faults, and mistakes and with doubts.

You didnt get here on anyone's back, MystiQue;
let alone a man's.
You are bigger than...this.
Dont doubt yourself, rediscover MystiQue
Spend time with her, talk to her. Listen
Spoil her, take care or her, fall in love with her...

The "I" in "We"

Who could have thought that getting my thoughts in order would be such a process. But I'm not complaining. This dark cloud has been looming over me for so long, now that it's being dealt with, I dont care about the process or the work involved I am just glad its being addressed, and/or getting removed.

I need time away, out of this, out of 'us.' I need time to be me, I need time for me. I understand that. But who am I, what do I want to do?? Lately I have been filling my weekends with watching TV with the remote in his hand. What do I enjoy, doing for me?

I have spent so much of my adult life in a relationship with one man or the other, I havent had the time to discover the woman I grew into and what I want. This is interfering with my love life now. I cant be with someone, I cant be part of 'us' when I dont know me.

Who knew that the biggest journey and adventure I would embark on would be a journey to find myself... And as much as I love AOA, I cant take him with me. Reader pray for me that this 'I need time away' talk reaches his ears in the same format and spirit, with the same meaning as it is leaving my mouth.

I love the man, trust me. The past year has been amazing, but if I am to be a happy and irreplaceable member of this team I need to know exactly what I am bringing to the table.
And what I need to find on the table for me to stay.

Identifying and Accepting the Problem.

Something is not right. I dont know how many times I have to say that before my mind accepts that and moves past that to actually find out what the problem is. My heart and mind will only go as far as seeing that there is something wrong; but something stops me there. I hate it. I am scared to admit what the problem is because I am either terrified to deal with it, or I subconciously know what has to be done and quite frankyly "I don wanna"

Something is not right in this relationship. I am not happy, and saying that outloud is not easy, and just makes me even more unhappy. Its like when you walk into an empty room and you immediately feel like running right out, but u dont know why. I read somewhere, a long time ago that to sort out your thoughts, write them out starting with I feel.. Ok, here goes.

I feel alone.
I feel lost
I feel emotionally starved
I feel I am trying too hard
I feel distant.

I was talking to a friend of mine last night and he told me I sounded pathetic. It hurt like hell, because if there's one thing I thought I would never sound, it's pathetic.

The problem is I let this relationship swallow me, I changed myself to fit the woman he told me he wanted. I hate this new me, and I hate that he doesnt see what I have sacrificed, because he didnt ask for it. I accept I have a problem. Now to fix it. Damn.

Transferring intelligence

The most common compliment I get from people, whether old friends and new aquaintances is that I am smart, very smart actually. This usually comes after they ask me what I do work and academic-wise. I'm used to the "Wow"s and the look of awe and sometimes envy that brings. Whatever.
Lately things have happened in my life that make me wonder just how valueable it is to be a PhD student, handling deadly viruses everyday, brushing shoulders with big names...if I cant transfer some of that so called intelligence to other parts of my life....say my love-life.
I came to the conclusion that I have been extremely dump when it comes to the way I evaluate and handle my relationships. So dump that writing about it makes me angry at myself. At work, I can tell when a result is 'bad', I know when I need to re-do someething, or change a condition to get better data. But when it comes to dating... I do the same thing over and over, without realizing that it's not working, or the effect(s) it's having on other aspects of my life.
Today's project is transferring my apparent academic intelligence and bringing it home.