Enjoying Failure?

You're kidding right? I came across an article 'Enjoy the Fun of Failure' by Gretchen Rubin here . I will be the first to admit that I'm really scared of failure. I hate to fail. During the laboratory work phase of my PhD I had to deal with failure, not once, not twice but loads of times. It is the nature of research to have to deal with failure. I am going to learn to run with this Ms Rubin's second mantra to 'enjoy the fun of failure'. She writes,


"My second mantra is "Enjoy the fun of failure." Did I mention that I hate to fail? And I hate to act without the best information. But a few years ago, I realized that if I wasn't willing to fail, if I always wanted to execute perfectly, I wouldn't be able to exploit all new social-media tools now available for authors. These tools are powerful, but they do represent opportunities for very public failures and mistakes."


If I'm unwilling to fail then I am just saying I am unwilling to succeed. I have allowed my fear of failure limit me in so many areas of my life. Personally as well as professionally. My paper just got turned down by a very reputable journal. Was I happy? Of course not? But I'm happy I wrote it and I'm now motivated to go back to the drawing board, take up the advice from the reviewers and resubmit to another journal. 


I need to learn to take risks and not allow failing to stop me in my tracks. 

On CVs and Cover Letters

It is tough out there. As I wrote the last few lines of my dissertation my mind often strayed on the thoughts to answer the 'What next?' question? I can't count the number of times I've been asked the question since submitting. It is tough out there. With all the cuts being made in the UK at this time, funding is at an all time low (or it seems so). My supervisor is eager to keep me in our lab but we need to apply for some external funding. But tough does not translate impossible and like one of my favourite songs..'When the going gets tough, the tough get going!'

My ultimate dream is to teach. During my PhD I did quite a lot of teaching and I can honestly say is it is the only thing I would do for free but I know a postdoc or two will be necessary to get that dream job. Not to say that I don't love research but who's to say you can't do both. I have positive and negative experiences from my PhD which I will share later but well lets say finishing the thesis is just the beginning of the work.

Two weeks ago I was writing, proofreading, making that mad dash to meet deadlines. Two weeks later and guess what? I'm still writing, proofreading and making that mad dash to meet deadlines..lol! Well no time to daddle, I need to write a convincing cover letter to enable me stand out of the crowd.

Welcome..

I'm really excited..my very first post on this blog. Well I'm DgeekChic and I've just submitted my thesis in partial fulfillment of the award of PhD in Food Microbiology. While I'm excited after about 4.5 years of work, I'm a bit apprehensive about the viva (oral examination). Anyway I want to chronicle my journey towards the first postdoc and henceforth.

Its called 'In my Labcoat and Out' because although I spend a lot of time in my labcoat some interesting things do happen outside of it too. For now DgeekChic remains DgeekChic but maybe someday I will reveal all.