#-and sometimes some ping-pong harder or more than others and it's all randomized for who or how long.

[microwavetoaster-selfships]

I think it's so funny whenever I actually do post about Lightning cause like. Yall got what you came for now. He's the staple of my blog regaurdless I swear haha!

[desktopgargoyle]

the road trip series - the fic

so i finally have chapter one finished?? the response to the extract i posted was kinda mixed lol so please let me know if y’all actually like this or not. thanks! xx 

ff.net version

chapter one 

“Nino, we agreed that I would drive first.” Alya places her hands on her hips, foot beginning to tap in frustration. They’ve been going back and forth for about ten minutes now and she’s tired of this metaphorical ping-pong match. Why can’t the boy just be less damn annoying?

Nino shrugs noncommittedly and jingles the car keys in her face. “My car, my rules, Al. I always take first shift on these trips, it’s tradition. Besides, I only agreed to that because it was ridiculous o’clock in the morning and I needed sleep.” He blows her a kiss and unlocks the car so that they can start loading their stuff into it.

Alya takes a minute to just stare at him and wonder how she ended up dating someone so irritating and immature and insufferable and –

“Al, I know what you’re thinking but I’m going to remind you that you love me for all my faults and secretly find them endearing because I’m just that loveable.”

– and apparently psychic.

“Just shut up and get in the driver’s seat, idiot.”

Nino grins widely at her and lands a quick peck on her cheek anyway. Although he will swear up and down that he doesn’t love anything more than Alya (except for his Bestest Bro Adrien), annoying Alya makes for a pretty close second.

The road trips have been an annual tradition for the last three years. Their first trip, to Calais, took place three weeks into the summer before university started and, ever since then, they’d made it an official tradition to explore somewhere new every year.

This year, they’re tackling the seven-hour drive to Marseille. She’s had the itinerary planned for weeks now but, as usual, it will likely go out of the window as a result of Nino’s need for spontaneity, Marinette’s inability to stay organised, and Adrien’s hate for schedules in general. It doesn’t matter, it’s all part of the routine and Alya is as excited as ever.

Except seven hours is a long time. As much as she loves Nino, seven hours is a long, long time and she will be stuck in the passenger seat forever.

“I promise you won’t be stuck in the passenger seat forever.” Nino grins at her from in the car, reading her mind.

Alya raises an eyebrow. The psychic mind reading thing would be more impressive if they didn’t have this exact conversation every year. Especially seeing as how last year turned out.

“Okay, okay. You won’t be stuck in the passenger seat forever, this time. Better?” Nino waits for Alya to roll her eyes dramatically. “Now get your butt in the car, we’re gonna be late! I wanna beat traffic and that’s not gonna happen if you stand there tapping your foot at me all day!”

“You’re lucky I love you, Lahiffe.”

“So I’ve been told.” he winks back at her. Alya wants to roll her eyes again.

It’s barely seven but it’s still a Saturday and traffic will pile up in no time. Alya’s never been too fond of super early mornings, but it’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make if it means that they have the best damn road trip of all time. She’s so glad that they haven’t stopped doing these trips.

With university and work and all the other responsibilities they each have it’s become so much harder to plan and organise things like this, and for a while Alya was worried that they’d stop altogether.

Her internship has been so full on recently that she hasn’t seen Marinette in a week and she hadn’t even been able to grab lunch with Adrien on Tuesday because all her lunch hours have been devoted to finalising content in the lead up to press week. Heck, she’s barely seen Nino and she lives with him. Although to be fair this DJ gig has Nino working mainly nights, so he’s usually already gone by the time she gets home and is asleep when she leaves in the mornings.

“How come you’re so awake?” She practically yawns the words out.

“Are you kidding me? We’re on our way to pick up my Bestest Bro in the world! Of course I’m gonna be awake for this!” He’s practically bouncing in his seat.

“Nino, you saw Adrien on Monday. It’s only been, like, four days –”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Al. Because obviously someone doesn’t know how to recognise true love when they see it. Any time spent apart from my Bestest Bro is too much time apart.” Nino clutches his hand to his heart and the way his voice cracks on ‘true love’ is just too perfect.

“You know anyone would guess that you’re actually Adrien’s boyfriend and not mine.” She deadpans, arms folded and one eyebrow raised. Nino’s random declarations of True Love for Adrien are now a regular occurrence in Alya’s life. The two of them are, as Nino puts it, the bestest bros in all of Paris.

He really wants to get that written on matching t-shirts for Adrien’s birthday and if Alya didn’t already know that Adrien was planning the same thing for Nino’s birthday, she would back him one hundred percent.

Except she is Alya and Everyone tells her Everything. It’s both a blessing and a curse.

“Nino, you were supposed to take the last left, what are you doing? I thought you said you wanted to get on the road ASAP, not take the scenic route to Adrien’s apartment!”

“Well, in case you didn’t notice the scenic route is the only one not blocked up by traffic.”

“Hey, use your turn signal you idiot! You can’t just do whatever the hell you want whenever-”

“The road was clear, there is literally nobody around to care about whether or not I use the turn signal apart from you!” Nino huffs. “And you are in the same car as me!”

“Alright you know what – actually, hold that thought. Mari’s calling you.” Alya sticks her tongue out at her boyfriend’s stupid smug face before answering Nino’s phone. “Mari girl, hey. Yeah – no, well I – one sec, let me put you on speaker, alright?”

“Mari! My number two bro! You’re on speaker, dude!” Nino grins.

“Hey, Nino!” Marinette giggles from the other end of the line.

“I can’t wait until we get to yours because Alya has been driving me insane and I need you to distract her!”

“Is that all I’m worth to you? I’m offended.”

“Seriously, dude. I miss you, Maribro.” Alya may complain about a lack of Marinette time, but Nino hasn’t seen her in three weeks. They’ve had to make do with weirdly timed texts and rushed face times at all sorts of hours. The only reason they manage to talk as much as they do is because they’re both practically nocturnal at this point and they can vent to one another about a lack of both sleep and a social life.

Marinette and Nino fall into easy conversation about planned playlists for the trip, yet another tradition. They always come up with seriously long-winded titles and, intrepid writer and grammar enthusiast that she is, Alya wants to strangle them sometimes.

She’s just glad that there’s a character limit on Spotify because after the ‘where-the-hell-are-we-tunes-for-when-nino-inevitably-takes-a-wrong-turn-after-arguing-with-alya-because-of-their-differing-opinions-on-maps’ playlist, Alya was prepared to stage an intervention.

She doesn’t even know why they need a specific playlist for that, but it exists. Right between ‘we-need-a-coffee-break-soon-because-nino-will-kill-someone-if-we-don’t-stop-before-this-playlist-ends’ and ‘we-are-going-to-be-stuck-in-traffic-so-this-playlist-is-six-hours-worth-of-the-least-annoying-songs-we-could-think-of’’.

Alya tunes back into the conversation just as they pull into the car park of Adrien’s apartment building. Nino and Marinette are currently planning an ‘alya-is-about-to-get-into-a-fight-with-a-random-stranger-in-another-car-and-we-need-to-distract-her’ playlist and, at this point, she doesn’t want to know what exactly that entails. Instead of asking, she looks down at her phone.

From: my best pal al To: The Boyfriend’s Husband Dude, we’re outside your building. In a strictly non-stalkerish way that is. Obviously.

Yes, Alya may be an adult but that does not mean that she has outgrown using nicknames for all of her contacts. None of them really have.

From: The Boyfriend’s Husband To: my best pal al I thought I had the restraining order posted last month.

From: my best pal al To: The Boyfriend’s Husband Do you want to see your husband or not?

From: The Boyfriend’s Husband To: my best pal al NINO STOP TEXTING ME ALYA YOU’RE DISTRACTING ME I NEED TO LEAVE

“Is that my bestest bro?” Nino’s ears perk up at Alya’s text notifications.

“Yeah, and from the looks of things I suggest you go help him before he hurts himself or breaks something because –”

Nino is out of the car before she can fully complete her sentence. She can hear Marinette chuckling in the background.

“You know, Alya, you might have some competition there.”

“Tell me about it, girl.” Alya laughs. “Although I will point out that this means that you and Nino are also in competition.” She grins slyly; she can practically see Marinette turning beet red already.

“That’s different, me and Adrien aren’t in a long-term relationship. Or any type of remotely romantic relationship at all.” The last part is added somewhat dejectedly.

It’s no secret that Marinette has been in love with Adrien since she was fifteen and, whilst the schoolgirl crush vibe has significantly decreased with time, she is still very much in love with him. Alya sighs and presses the phone to her ear, switching off speaker mode.

She and Nino have both agreed to say nothing to Adrien about Marinette’s feelings and, although it’s been killing her to watch the two of them flit around each other hopelessly, a promise is a promise.

“Mari, I’m telling you. He likes you. Like, like-likes you. He just doesn’t know it yet.” She’s positive about this. There is literally no other explanation that Alya can think of. It’s just that Marinette is so quick to dismiss the evidence.

“Who like-likes Marinette?” Shit, she forgot the window was down. Nino appears suddenly to her left, carrying what appears to be twelve packs of Oreos. She hadn’t even seen him or Adrien exit the building.

“Someone like-likes Marinette?” Adrien pipes up as he opens the door and slides into the back seat.

“Uh…” Shit.

“Alya is that Adrien?! What the f–”

“Gottagotalktoyouwhenwepickyouuplaterloveyoubyeee!” She clicks the end call button as fast as is humanly possible.

“So, who is it?” Adrien grabs a pack of Oreos from Nino and rips it open. Alya turns around and grabs the pack before he can grab a cookie. “Hey! I haven’t had breakfast yet!” He sticks his bottom lip out and pouts. 

“Listen, Model Boy. Firstly, the pouting isn’t working so cut it. Secondly, you can’t steal my boyfriend and expect me to not steal Oreos.” She grabs three cookies from the packet before tossing it back to Adrien. “Thirdly, Oreos are not a nutritional breakfast and you are officially grounded.”

Adrien sticks his tongue out at her before biting into a cookie. “I’m a grown man and you can’t tell me what to do, Alya.”

“Yeah, well I’m older than you.” Alya looks down at her phone and begins to shoot a quick text to Marinette, just to reassure her easily panicked friend that Adrien is on to nothing.

              From: queen of everything               To: my precious macaron               Don’t stress, Mari.               I’ve distracted Adrien with Oreos.               Also he’s grounded for not eating a proper breakfast.

              From: my precious macaron               To: queen of everything               thank fuck.

              From: queen of everything               To: my precious macaron               Watch your language or you’ll be grounded too.

“You may be older, but I’m taller.” Adrien grins at her in the rear-view mirror. This has been an ongoing joke since forever and frankly, Alya does not appreciate him insinuating that she is short. She’s a perfectly average height of five foot seven.

Okay, maybe she’s five feet six and a half. But her point still stands. (If she was Adrien she would make a joke about her point standing taller than she does). Alya groans audibly.

“What was that, babe?” Nino asks as he slides behind the wheel.

“Nothing. I just made an Adrien joke in my head and I am disappointed in myself.” Alya slumps her head against the window as Nino snorts and high fives Adrien. “I need coffee, like, yesterday.”

Adrien pokes the back of Alya’s head. “Don’t worry, Al. We can hit up Starbucks after we pick up Marinette.”

Alya groans again. “I need real coffee. Not one of those frappe-mocha-sugar-overload monstrosities.” She’s not a coffee snob, but really, Starbucks? “Is there no way we can swing by Tom and Sabine’s?”

“The bakery is almost twenty minutes out of the way, Al. If you can deal with Starbucks just for today I’ll buy you a pain au chocolat too.” Nino promises.

Alya considers this thoughtfully for a good couple minutes before nodding decisively. “Fine. Make it a pain a chocolat and a granola bar and you have a deal.”

“Deal.”

The drive to Marinette’s apartment takes ten minutes longer than it should have because Adrien forgot to lock his apartment and they had to turn back. When they finally arrive she’s sitting on the bench on the pavement just outside her building, sketchbook and pencil in hand, as usual.

Adrien rolls down his window, grinning at the fact that Marinette hasn’t even noticed that they’ve practically pulled up directly in front of her. “Hey, Marinette!” He leans slightly out of the window and waves. “Any new designs?”

“Adrien! Hi! Yes, designs have new! Uh, I mean – I new designs drawn – er, no wait – ” Marinette drops her sketchbook and pencils in surprise, stationery flying everywhere as she scrambles to find words. She kicks herself mentally; all she wants is to form one coherent sentence. Does it really have to be this difficult?

Adrien chuckles momentarily before exiting the car to help Marinette collect her things. She hasn’t been this awkward around him since their school days and, although he was relieved when she started to act normal around him, part of him has missed this.

“Here,” he hands her back her pencil case, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry to startle you like that, Mari.”

Marinette smiles back, taking the pencil case and stuffing it into her bag. “It’s alright, Adrien. I’m glad you guys finally made it though, I’ve been sitting out here for almost half an hour now.” She directs the latter part of the sentence at Nino, accompanied by a pointed look.

“Again, that was my fault, sorry.” Adrien laughs apologetically.

Marinette raises an eyebrow. “Did you forget to lock your apartment like last time?”

His embarrassed nod tells her all she needs to know.

“Whenever you two have finished your conversation, I would still like to hit the road ASAP.” Nino calls from the car. He’s not frustrated just yet, but Adrien knows that if they hit traffic they’ll all get the This Situation Was Easily Avoidable and You All Ruined It speech. It’s not a fun speech.

The trip to Starbucks is fairly uneventful. Nino buys Alya her coffee (black, one sugar, because at least I can pretend this is real coffee) and her food, which she practically snatches from the barista’s hands, as well as an iced caramel macchiato for himself (Alya, I’m paying so don’t criticise me). Marinette orders a chai tea latte (it’s the best of both worlds okay? Shut up, Adrien, I’m not basic) and Adrien sticks with hot chocolate (because I’ve only been awake for an hour and a half and I need sugar. A lot of it).

Marinette always maintains that the road trip has never officially started until they reach the highway. Only then do the traditions really begin. Nino’s first playlist of choice is ‘all-those-songs-that-we-like-even-though-they-are-awful’. The ‘we’ in this case is only Marinette. When the Playlist Committee was first formed they came up with a set of ten rules:

The Ten Rules of the Road Trip Playlist Committee

1.      Each Playlist Exectutive is allowed to make one playlist without the other’s permission

2.      The other member must allow this playlist to be played at any time, no complaints

3.      There are to be no exceptions to universal karaoke when Carly Rae Jepsen’s artistic masterpiece ‘Call Me Maybe’ is played

4.      Each playlist (apart from the aforementioned excepted permission playlist) must be the result of a team effort

5.      Alya is not allowed to make playlists

6.      All passenger requests must be agreed upon by the Playlist Executives

7.      There will be no Bieber at any time. Ever.

8.      Adrien is only allowed three song requests every hour.

9.      The soundtrack of ‘Cats’ is not appropriate road trip material. Do not play it, no matter how much Adrien pleads.

10.  Any rules broken will result in immediate termination of the guilty Playlist Executive.

Marinette is pretty sure that Nino has violated Rule Number 1 already, but she’s willing to let it slide because, to be completely fair, she ends up sleeping through a lot of the car journey. It’s not like she falls asleep on purpose, it’s just that her blanket is super warm and fluffy. Can she really be blamed?

“Alright, my dudes, I officially declare this road trip in motion!” Nino grins as the intro to the Ghostbusters theme fills the car. “We are hitting the highway!”

Alya whips out her camera, snapping a quick selfie of all four of them before turning it onto video mode. “You heard it, folks. The road trip is officially underway! Marseille, here we come! Hey, Mari, say hi to my vlog! You too, Model Boy.” Alya shoves the camera into her friends’ faces, barely allowing them time to react before yanking it back. “This is gonna be the Best. Trip. Ever!”

the road trip series

[thebestplltheories]

PLL 7x13 Hold Your Piece - thoughts (confirmation Charlotte is alive in this episode?)

Overall, a general step up from last week’s episode which was one of the worst of the series. Still disappointing, and I still want to know when the love letter to the fans begins.

We started off interesting and then it went straight to filler. Ffs.

HERE’S AN IDEA... WAIT FOR THE IPHONE TO DIE AND DON’T CHARGE IT??? 

The Hanna doll was creepy! I loved that. And cutting into the doll was a clever interpretation of appendix. Even I didn’t think of that Hanna, nice!

Making Aria, out of all the liars, be the tech genius was definitely fan-service to the Aria is A theorists. And I love that the writers did that. They respect the fans. It’s the final season and they want to satisfy everyone; Aria won’t be A, but it’s about time they showed Aria be stronger than usual (both physically - pushing Sydney and also in terms of how smart she was by planting the GPS tracking chip in Sydney’s bag).

I like that Sydney got some clarification but my gosh - will we ever find out who was the fourth person to the picnic in 505?

I’m going to cop hate for this. But I LOVED not having Alison around. I’ve always been a firm believer that this show started going down once Alison came back alive, mainly in season 5. With just the simple absence of Alison, it felt like a good old season 3 or 4 episode. And I loved those vibes. I love seeing the group of 4 without Ali, sometimes.

Yvonne dying honestly shocked me! It happened out of nowhere! Good job writers, for shocking me. I definitely knew it was coming, I’m not shocked that she died, but more so the way and time she died. One second she’s confessing how happy she is, next second, literally, she’s gone. I really felt so terrible for Toby.

Fury and Spencer. Get absolutely lost. Couldn’t care less. I can’t believe how much time they wasted playing ping pong. I understand fillers. But THAT much is just stupid.

I liked that short, cute Spaleb scene. “I like how easy that was”

Caleb helping with the board game.. thank god. If they waited until episode 9 to enlist Caleb, I would’ve been so frustrated. At least we can get some sort of satisfaction that the girls are somewhat trying to beat the game.

“Hey Loser” ... try harder AD. Sounds like a threat the kids on the playground use. And stop using the Spongebob Squarepants font, please!

The final scene had me so so so disappointed. I initially thought it was a betrayal scene - Fury is working for AD! They had him in black, with gloves, an A package, everything! But no. It was him as a police officer opening a package from AD. Bummer. I would’ve LOVED a betrayal there (Fury working for AD).

LUCAS MADE THE BOARD GAME. I still stand by this. It’s what PLL does - they make the characters fall in love with each other (not literally in love) only for a massive betrayal to happen. Right before Toby was revealed as A in 312, Spoby hooked up. Right before Ezra was revealed as “A”, Ezria spent the entire episode together. And now, right before Lucas is going to be revealed as working for AD, Hanna says all that lovey-dovey stuff about being a great friend. It’s a normal tactic used in TV: let the character confess their love so that the betrayal is even more shocking.

I can’t help but think that AD gave Spencer a soft/easy task because AD is Spencer’s sister (a Drake). I mean, the writers went out of their way to highlight that Spencer got it easier. Maybe this is important.

The finger is surely Rollins’. 5 years later??? It can’t be Jessica’s. I think this is the beginning of AD revealing what the girls did.

Can I get a hell yeah for no new characters!! It’s almost like the writers learnt their lesson from 712, yet obviously they didn’t because this episode was made months ago. But still. No new characters = at absolute least 4/10 on my scales. Hence last week got a 2/10, and didn’t even get a reactions post like this. My screen did not get a brick through it tonight because Addison wasn’t in it. Thank god. My screen is safe.

And finally. This episode, for me, almost confirmed that Charlotte is alive. I haven’t seen anyone else say this which is surprising me because it’s the very first place my mind went. Like, instantaneously my mind went there. Sydney said there’s an Anonymous Donor paying for Jenna’s surgery. Ummmmm... last episode, Jenna literally told us that Charlotte agreed to pay for another surgery for her eyes! I pray to god Charlotte is not AD but she could just be an anonymous donor without being AD, if that makes sense.

And wow, the promo for next week!! No way are we actually going to find out who killed Jessica in a random, non-finale episode. I don’t expect to get solid confirmation. We won’t hear the explicit sentence “X killed Jessica because Y”. We will find out more clues, but I am 98% sure we won’t get solid confirmation. It’ll be another Sara Harvey. Heavily implied it is someone, but not 100% confirmed. (But all the clues will point to Peter. He’ll be the one this reveal will base around.)

Overall.. 6.5/10. For the final episodes, I’m still somewhat disappointed, but it was a step up from last week. I can’t give it more than 7 because we missed our queen Mona. 

[rifakastian]

Considere this articles before you enter academic or non academic

Why do I want to stay in academia?

Through the media and social media, I’ve been reading a lot about the issues of being in academia: questions around why we do what we do, why people want to leave, is it effective at training for skills, and do we need stronger statements of academic freedom. I struggled through this myself recently, and I applied my skills as a scientist to create a model. In this article, I discuss my understanding of the purpose of academia, and why I want to stay

Anna Ceguerra

The University of Sydney quadrangle

author-supplied

During the early part of my career, I was only worried about whether I was enjoying what I was doing, as that was the advice I got. As I moved through my postdoc, I learned a lot of what academics do by being involved with the work of more senior people, such as helping with supervision or helping with the administrative side of large grant applications. However, the jobs I was doing seemed to be disjointed and had no common purpose, even though I enjoyed them.

I was prompted to think about the broader role of academics within society, because of three things. One is the review in Australia about intellectual freedom and freedom of speech in in early 2019. The second is the long-running debate around the efficacy of universities in providing skills to industry. The final, was more personal, and involved my health and a couple of significant life events which I will not mention here.

I was in the process of recalibration. I felt lost, and I didn’t know why I was doing what I was doing anymore. I decided to reflect on what I enjoyed in my work at the university, and what I didn’t enjoy. It still seemed random, the things I was doing. I’m a scientist, so I naturally tried to make an abstraction of all of these things, a model to make sense of all of the data.

The conclusions I made at the end, was that an academic’s purpose is threefold: (1) to keep knowledge alive, (2) to generate new knowledge, and (3) to train the next generation on these two things. The different academic levels of reflect the different types of technical competence, and later the leadership, you need as you progress in your career.

Keep knowledge alive: It is very difficult to read a paper that is not in your field, and understand what’s going on. Expertise in a field is representative of keeping that particular area of knowledge alive. This makes it faster to implement a new idea in that field. By having expertise, we are able to recognise novelty when we see it.

Generate new knowledge: My supervisor once told me that part of a scientist’s job is to document our work. As Adam Savage says, “The difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.” That’s why we publish papers, why we peer review manuscripts, why we acknowledge previous work. Our expertise means that we are able to construct a logical and cohesive argument for the validity of a new piece of knowledge in our field, in the context of the evidence.

This is also why academic freedom is important, we must ask the questions that will increase our body of knowledge. Sometimes that question is unpopular in the field, sometimes it’s been forgotten because we didn’t have the tools to investigate it further. But I think a possible limitation to academic freedom is that it must be relevant to the topic.

Train the next generation: Our limited working life means that both our knowledge and our ability to generate new knowledge must be passed onto students. This is why we teach coursework so the students can gain the requisite technical skills. This is why we train PhD students, so they can become experts on a topic, as well as learn how to construct a thorough argument for a new piece of knowledge.

Different levels: This is something that I don’t really know much about for higher level, as I am a mid-career researcher. I do have experience and insights up to this point.

An undergraduate student gains the skills and knowledge in an area. They are able to say, “I have a question, I don’t know the answer, but I know how to find it.”

A PhD student learns how generate new knowledge. They can say, “I have a question, I don’t know the answer, I can’t find the answer, but I can develop a method to find out.”

A postdoc is a professional researcher, who is usually collaborating on an existing project, but has the skills to perform the research. They say, “I have a question, I don’t know the answer, the answer doesn’t exist, but I can find out.”

The further levels above me are sketchy. But from my understanding, progressing up the academic career ladder involves leadership. My understanding of research leadership is asking the question, “What are the questions?”

By understanding how the pieces fit together, I had a better understanding of what academia means to me. During my PhD, I used to tell the other PhD students about my ideas, which usually were not technically feasible. We called these sessions “crackpotting” because they were usually crackpot ideas! But I remember them fondly. At the end of the day, the job is fun, but having the opportunity to advance society, by pushing the boundaries of human understanding, is part of the calling of academia.

Three bad reasons to do a paostdoc

Lucy feels a wave of relief rush over her. She just passed her Ph.D. defense; her long journey in grad school is finally over. She’s not sure where her path will take her next, but she’s not worrying about that for now.

As she and Thomas, her adviser, walk away from the exam room, he excitedly says, “Linsey told me she has an open postdoc position in her lab.” Linsey had served as the external examiner during Lucy’s defense, and she was impressed by Lucy’s research and knowledge. “She thinks it would be a good fit for you.”

“I am not sure if I want to do a postdoc,” Lucy responds meekly.

“What’s the matter with you?” Thomas says playfully, thinking that Lucy is joking. After all, Linsey is at the top of Thomas’s private list of “Young Scientists Most Likely to Win the Nobel Prize.” And she is a fantastic person: smart, humble, respectful—someone who would be a great mentor.

An awkward silence follows. “You need a postdoc to become a professor,” Thomas blurts out.

“I know. But I don’t want to become a professor.”

“But you would make an excellent prof!”

The previous Career Fable

Career Fables are fictional stories to guide you in your real-life career journey.

Career Fables preview image

Think about career planning throughout grad school—not just at the very end

Read more Career Fables

“I don’t like teaching, Thomas. Students would run away crying if I tried to teach them the basics of biochemistry. And I can’t imagine sitting at a desk writing one grant proposal after another. I am a better fit for industry.”

Thomas sighs, knowing that it is impossible to argue that professorships hardly involve teaching and grant writing. So, he switches gears and makes a new argument: “Even if you don’t become a prof, getting work experience in Linsey’s lab will be great for your resume.”

“Really?”

“If you ask me, you would be crazy not to take it,” Thomas says before opening the door to the building’s indoor garden, where Lucy’s colleagues had already gathered for a postdefense celebration.

“Congratulations!” they all say at once.

“How was it?” Mark—a Ph.D. student—asks. Lucy surveys the group. Some of her peers, she suspects, are looking for a juicy story. Others are probably hoping to hear that the big exam they still have to pass isn’t as scary as they’d imagined.

She replies theatrically, “Oh, it was miserable!”

“Really?” Mark asks with eyes as large as Ping-Pong balls.

“No, it wasn’t. Nerve-wracking, yes. But after a few minutes, it was clear that they just wanted to have a constructive conversation about my science. It was fun! And, I only have minor corrections to do. They’ll take me less than a week.”

“She did a great job,” declares Thomas. “Passed with flying colors.”

Linsey and a few other professors who were on Lucy’s committee walk in the door. Thomas goes to the far end of the garden to greet them.

Mark continues the conversation. “What’s next, Lucy? Vacation?” he asks.

“Vacation?” Lucy laughs. “I am a little strapped for cash. I need a job first. I’ve applied for a few positions in industry. But Thomas just told me about a postdoc position in my external examiner’s lab. Maybe I should take it—in part so that I know I’ll have a job. Thomas also tells me that it will be good to get some work experience as a postdoc.”

“Definitely,” Mark agrees. “You can’t get the really interesting jobs straight after your Ph.D.”

Sandra and Hans both frown.

“Rubbish,” Sandra says. “You don’t need postdoc experience to get a job in industry. Why would you want to spend a few more years making barely more than a grad student salary—especially when a postdoc isn’t needed for what you want to do?”

“Exactly,” Hans adds. “Plus, the longer you stay in academia, the harder it is to leave. That’s what I’ve heard.”

Thomas calls Lucy over to where he’s talking with Linsey. She leaves the group and walks over to that side of the room.

“I’ve told Lucy that you have a postdoc position available,” Thomas starts the conversation, looking at Linsey.

“I do. Are you interested in it, Lucy? I think you would be a great fit for our team,” she says with a broad grin, before going on to explain how closely aligned the project would be to what Lucy studied during her Ph.D.

“Thank you. I feel flattered,” Lucy says. “Can I think about it and get back to you?”

Career advice

There are good reasons to do a postdoc, even if you don’t want to stay in academia. For instance, it might offer international experience or an opportunity to change fields. But a postdoc shouldn’t be viewed as the default option, and you should go into the decision with your eyes wide open. Here are three bad reasons to do a postdoc:

1. Your Ph.D. adviser tells you it is a good idea.

Professors are scientific advisers, not career advisers. They’ve pursued an exceptionally focused career track, and they won’t necessarily be aware of all the other options that are out there. Many professors also view a postdoc as the default option, especially for high-achieving grad students. But this view isn’t correct: Even if you’re a successful grad student, that doesn’t mean you should stay in academia. You may be happiest in your career if you find a job elsewhere.

2. You think it will increase your market value.

You’ll likely need to do a postdoc if you want to land a faculty job. But for most jobs outside of the professorate, that’s not the case; your academic credentials will be enough by the time you graduate with a Ph.D. Also, keep in mind that if you do a postdoc, it may make it harder for you to transition to a nonacademic job. Some managers in industry, for instance, may see “postdoc” on your resume and view that as an indication that you are not genuinely interested in an industry career.

3. A postdoc is the easiest job to get.

Staying in your Ph.D. adviser’s lab for a postdoc—or following their recommendation to join a colleague’s lab—is often the easiest way to prevent unemployment after you graduate. If you truly have no other options, then maybe you should consider taking the offer temporarily. But keep in mind that you probably have more options than you realize, and it’s important to think through them carefully. Before agreeing to do a postdoc, ask yourself, “Will I get something valuable out of this postdoc, or am I doing this because I’m afraid to step out of my comfort zone?” If you don’t see yourself benefiting professionally from the position, then it might be best to take a risk and leave academia—because in all likelihood, the sooner you do so, the better it will be for your career.

Philipp Gramlich (NaturalScience.Careers) and David Giltner (TurningScience) contributed to this article. Philipp combines industry and academic experience in his workshops and talks for scientists. David teaches scientists how to design and build rewarding careers in industry.

Posted in: Career FablesColumnNon-disciplinary

[thesongoflucius]

For a long time connecting to people was hard for me. Not understanding them, or wanting to connect, but stepping past the fear that comes with dealing with people. I still don’t have that fearlessness that people talk about. I can never stop the whisper of anxiety in my life. Honestly, I’ve stopped trying. 

Fear is always there, like when the Doctor mentions he is going to Zhangye in a couple days and he invites me along. I say yes, but the fear is there. We will be staying near the rainbow mountains in Danxia national park. The fear whispers about what could go wrong, but I am going anyway. The fear whispers that it won’t be vacation since I will probably be with people the entire time. I am going anyway. It’s a weight I always carry, I’ve just gotten used to it. 

I’ve had invitations like that in Mexico too, to lakes and spas, to Pueblas Magicos, but I still held back in those days. In San Diego and New York, no was the default answer. Better to stay home than to go anywhere and deal with the weight on my shoulders. Here, it’s more like I’m watching myself do things, like the catalyst in an old movie. I drag myself into situations, but that was always my goal. Now I just need to stop worrying about where I’ve landed before I deal with it. 

It’s the same with giving out my number here. I give it to everyone. All my students, the other teachers, kung fu people, the guy I bought my teacups from, some random doctor who talked to me during lunch, it really doesn’t matter to me anymore. If someone contacts me, I answer them. Mostly it’s people with a quick greeting, then silence. There are a few people I have really connected with though, and it is easier for me to communicate since autocorrect is amazing here. 

There is even someone I can talk to about philosophy, about life, and about things beyond the basic conversations I have here. The questions of what is love, what is fear, why do we feel and do the things we do. I come from a background of philosophy and sociology, so these are the things that fascinate me. The questions of who we are, and how do we find what makes us happy.  

I find that the most important thing in my life is still the people I can help, the people care about, and the people I connect to. To be a part of life here isn’t just teaching, it’s connecting, being someone beyond the guest. It’s the question of love. 

A friend asked me what I think love is. The answer is simple, and complicated for me. In a relationship, it is work, not just the emotion. The emotion comes and goes. We are happy, sad, in love, in lust, but it will always change. Love is finding someone who you care about, who makes you happy and you can make happy. The person you can spend time with in sound and fury or in the calm nights. Your compliment, not just your missing piece. All of that and more, based on emotion but built by effort. 

If you only hold to the emotion then when the passion fades, so does the love. If the person is worth being in love with, they are worth the small moments where you connect and remind them that you love them. The moments where you show that they are important to you. Not just the time at work to earn money and build a future, but by filling the void in between. Deeds, not words or emotions, show who we are to the people we care about. 

If love is an act, the silence is its death. I have lost love to silence. It’s the one thing that guarantees there is nothing there. There can be no relationship in total silence, the total absence of connection. And the longer that silence goes on, the harder it is to repair. Mine died, and so I left the world I knew and found a new one.  

It was hard, but I am thankful for that death. Without it I could not be here, I would never have met the people I know now. I would never have found this passion, this ability to bypass fear, this fulfilment in compassion and service. All that I am and will become begins with that death, that silence. It’s still a scar, and there is fear tied to it, but I always remember something I once heard. To live your life like an open wound is a beautiful thing. To be vulnerable is a beautiful thing. 

It’s not to let yourself be bullied or destroyed, or to let others take from you, it’s simply keeping your pain close, as a friend rather than an enemy. It’s to let that pain make you powerful, and to protect others from being bullied or destroyed. One of the beautiful horrors of life is that a great deal of compassion can come from suffering. 

Then there are the other people here, the kung fu friends that I have met in every country I go to. Dirty mouths and dirty minds, challenges and playing at violence, more family than friends. Sometimes I don’t understand their questions. Sometimes I pretend not to so I can avoid answering the question. Sometimes I play dumb just to see how far they will push it.  

Today there were seven people trying to translate something to me. The last probably could have, if he wasn’t so embarrassed by the question. I know what it was, it was just entertaining to see them struggle to find a translation from Chinese slang to English. The same questions have been asked by my kung fu family in Mexico and the States. In the end, I just act confused then tell them that yes, the women here are beautiful. So are the women in every country, but I am just as interested in the mind and heart. 

It gets me through the situation without ever having to give a straight answer, and that answer annoys the men who ask it. So far, I have never seen men talk about sex in front of women here or in Mexico. But sooner or later, they always ask. 

Life here has been busy, but in a way that has meaning. In a way where I can connect. Kung fu every morning, passing the people exercising and dancing in the drainage ditch and being stared at for carrying a staff through the street. Watching a ping pong tournament and talking with the security guards, trying to figure out what they are asking beyond talking about Koby and basketball. Meals with friends, some awkward and some relaxed. Strangers, volunteers, and dozens of others. 

There is always that feeling that I don’t know what I am doing, even as I do it. That question in the back of my mind. I hear it, but I am here, and this is exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do. I am thankful for the friends I have found, and for all the people that may become more. I love this. 

Love and Pain For a long time connecting to people was hard for me. Not understanding them, or wanting to connect, but stepping past the fear that comes with dealing with people.