Completion and Improvement
I am not writing as much as I'd like to. So I thought I'd give a try to the Reverb10 idea I've seen around. Reflecting on the past year and preparing the one to come? Seems like perfect self-absorbed blogging fodder. I'm going to try and stick by it as much as possible, although between those times I won't be in front of a computer and the possibility that I just find every single one of the next thirty prompts stupid, I think it wise to refrain from promising I will write every single day.
And as it took me all of yesterday to hear about it and then decide I'd do it, I missed doing the first prompt on December 1st. Anyway, here come Day One:
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word.
Completion.
2010 was a year of achievements, a year of wrapping up, a year of bringing projects to completion. I completed my PhD. I completed my studies. I completed my five-year stay in California. I completed a three-week tour of the U.S. I had been thinking about for a long time. I finally completed my education as a driver enough to get my license.
Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
Improvement.
I'm expecting the first year of my postdoctoral training to be the opportunity of making a lot of progress towards becoming an independent research scientist. I have still a long way to go in terms of defining my own research projects, assessing their feasibility, and selling them to funding agencies. Although I am by no means entirely new to this, I am expecting to learn a lot about leading a research team, managing and advising students. Of course, having just gotten my PhD, I am still wet behind the ears as a scientist, and hoping to become better at it as well. I'm also expecting to start mastering the German language at last. And it goes without saying, I suppose, that I'm not adverse to a tiny bit of personal improvement as well.
