Trade offs

As I have written in a couple of recent posts (here, here and here), life has been a bit hectic recently.  I have been feeling like I am having science withdrawal symptoms.  Last week, I have finally received an offer for a new position that I have accepted.  For the last 4 years, while I absolutely loved my job, it took me over 1.5 hours to commute in each direction.  I wasn’t the favorite part of my day and took a lot of valuable time away from my work, family and personal life.  Not to mention NeuroBead. 

When I started graduate school, I had to choose a lab, where would be earning my degree.  There were two buildings, where most of the labs were located – one right across the street from the dorms and one about a block and a half away.  The factor of proximity played an important part in my selection process.  Yes, you can call me picky.  Needless to say how ironic it was for me to commit to such a long commute for my following job.

When I began discussing the option of choosing a job in the medical center (that is a few blocks away) with my husband, we both laughed about the “yo-yo” pattern it would make.  He tried to convince me to look into larger companies further away, but I’ve had enough.  If this mishap-turned-opportunity fell on my lap, I was going to make it more compatible with my daily life.  I ended up accepting the offer and will soon begin to work just a few blocks from our home and a block away from out daughter’s school.  Not to mention the fact that it is a world renowned institution.

The main downside is that this position will force me to switch to a different specialty field from the neuroscience that I deeply love.  It is a conscious compromise that I am willing to make for the sake of expanding my knowledge and skill set.  I will always be a neuroscientist at heart and will do my best to return to this field in the future.

On the bright side, this position will provide greater access to top notch microscopy instruments, used to perform so called “high content” imaging. I am really hoping that it will be a good source of inspiration for my future creations.  Plus, the proximity to home will allow me to dedicate much more time to this side hustle and allow NeuroBead to blossom.

On the final note, here is a shout out to one of my favorite images that I have acquired at my previous job.  I will write about it in more detail in a future post.