tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post3146145743434528001..comments2024-02-05T05:15:04.759-08:00Comments on Wandering Scientist: What Does Success Look Like?Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-62656566261255912532013-08-16T09:12:13.081-07:002013-08-16T09:12:13.081-07:00After spending a good number of years since I grad...After spending a good number of years since I graduated with a PhD, and wandering around the earth, virtually, from a temporary job to another, from a postdoc to another postdoc, I can say that for me, success would be finally geting a permanent position, where I am my "boss", that no one will tell me things to do or not to do, and that I can do the research projects I really love to do.<br />Needless to say, I am still in limbo, with another period of anxiety for looking for a new job. Because, you see, I'm werid: Why I’ve unsuccesful in obtaining a stable job? Well, I never felt that my “CV” was worth to try for a tenure track in any university. I lack of confidence on myself; I have 30+ publications with my name in it, yet, somehow I don’t dare to try! Why? I’m paralized! I just seem not to understand how this world works.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-90568701317221289232013-05-09T07:33:15.642-07:002013-05-09T07:33:15.642-07:00Success: waking up in the morning with the feelin...Success: waking up in the morning with the feeling "I can't wait to get started!". To be successful, I have to be flexible. For a time, it meant staying home with the kids - the alternative would have made my life miserable. Right now, it means having a job that is intellectually challenging and has potential for career growth as well as having plenty of time to spend goofing around the the kids.<br /><br />Thanks for this post, Cloud. I've been thinking about the meaning of success a lot lately - and it is so interesting to read other people's thoughts about it.Natashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08240398539368446143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-63432777901766966262013-02-13T11:41:18.566-08:002013-02-13T11:41:18.566-08:00I have tried for a while now to define this for my...I have tried for a while now to define this for myself because like you I do not believe in a universal concept of success. I'm much better at identifying what I don't define as success though. My definition of success remains :TBD.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-14089201337110338762013-02-07T08:43:04.575-08:002013-02-07T08:43:04.575-08:00Success is a funny thing to think about, at least ...Success is a funny thing to think about, at least to me. I too have seen some of my old classmates on newspapers (one just got an Emmy!) but it doesn't really affect the choice I made to become a <a href="http://forensicscienceeducation.org/forensic-toxicologist-training/%22" rel="nofollow">forensic toxicologist</a>. I doubt I'd like to see myself on TV though, talking about the sort of things that I do - wouldn't be for good things, that's for sure, lol.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09272208183201259351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-51129439122295904622013-02-05T18:56:13.425-08:002013-02-05T18:56:13.425-08:00Professional success? I would like to do some real...Professional success? I would like to do some really important, groundbreaking work, get offered an endowed chair at MIT, and then decline it. :)GMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17872461021953583473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-67698290294814228862013-02-05T11:32:59.304-08:002013-02-05T11:32:59.304-08:00Personally, I would hate fame (perhaps because I&#...Personally, I would hate fame (perhaps because I'm an INFJ), but like @Cloud, I'm genuinely happy for my former classmates who have made the papers for jobs well done. <br /><br />It's actually my secret fortune that I've earned from my work that makes me feel very successful. I still enjoy being successful in two quiet businesses without anybody knowing it for sure - whereas when I used to live in the big city and I worked in a much more high profile job, I'd have brokers and insurance salespeople hounding me. Quiet actual wealth is better than people believing you're rich when you're really not there yet.hushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05532820460835325762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-57345238972136293262013-02-05T08:04:26.436-08:002013-02-05T08:04:26.436-08:00I've been pondering a question along these lin...I've been pondering a question along these lines. I want to write about things I find fascinating, and I also want to write things I'd like to read. That's the internal side of it -- to do good work. On other other hand, I wouldn't mind fame and fortune either :) Laura Vanderkamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-1139483262933997272013-02-05T07:18:50.583-08:002013-02-05T07:18:50.583-08:00I wonder why there are so few comments on this one...I wonder why there are so few comments on this one. Maybe it is because success sounds like a destination and we are all too busy being successful in our daily lives to think about end-goals. Or maybe not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-17749507462665226302013-02-04T17:30:28.587-08:002013-02-04T17:30:28.587-08:00This is a very valid question... And setting out w...This is a very valid question... And setting out without having it atleast a little bit figured out is like running blind...<br />I have outlined my path as best as I could. The finer details can only be filled in along the way...<br />For me this involves learning stuff which is important enough to make lifes of others who learn it meaningfully fuller and easier.<br />In an IT background, this involves learning to make the correct design decisions... Being an architect who is in touch with the code...<br /><br />Success is being that mom who makes growing up fun, and eventual moving apart a natural part... Without the pain and angst...<br /><br />Thanks for asking it here!Layahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06419743271832804741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-42360595573267158882013-02-04T10:36:07.954-08:002013-02-04T10:36:07.954-08:00Sometimes I have fantasies that one day they will ...Sometimes I have fantasies that one day they will interview me on NPR about my work, but I'm not holding my breath. It would be cool to do something that people are interested in, broadly speaing. But that's not my definition of sucess. Basically, I'm pretty focused on my research and what I think of it (am I interested in it, enjoying it,e tc) and I don't think too much about external validation. My work fantasies include winning a big grant and/or a book prize. I'd like tenure. I have pretty modest ambitions for career success, as much as I love my career, because I'm so family focused right now, and I have to give up career superstardom (at the moment) in order to be present for my family. I take the long view so I'm not worried about it. Like @nicoleandmaggie, I would love to be known as someone who does good interesting work. I have the same ideas as Cloud, I think - lifestyle over career "success" in the broadest sense. But I can see going more full on work dominance mode once the kids are tucked away in college.Erinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-45232469871501864062013-02-04T04:45:59.445-08:002013-02-04T04:45:59.445-08:00I once had an economist who I admire describe anot...I once had an economist who I admire describe another person in my field as someone who, "does good work." I want that said about me (and I want it to be true!)<br /><br />As much as I don't sent goals and resolutions for my personal life, I have a career bucket-list. It amazes me that I've been checking things off it. (Get an IPUMs mug, write a handbook chapter, get cited in a textbook, etc.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-45522259718252262932013-02-04T01:42:35.077-08:002013-02-04T01:42:35.077-08:00Yeesh, this is a hard question. I'm in academi...Yeesh, this is a hard question. I'm in academia, and a large part of how I function is by the runner's mentality "be better than that person I see ahead of me." The way I keep my sanity and a family life is by clever partitioning of my brain to enforce time periods in my week that aren't competitive. <br /><br />If I had to look at things seriously, I think I would judge myself successful if I am doing interesting science, and/or if there is a part of my life where I am making a difference in the world, or at least my neighborhood. One scientific contribution that will be remembered for several decades would be nice, though I recognize that as a long shot. A group of people who I could point to and say "I made a difference in their lives" would also be nice. My current life is not set up to achieve this goal right now.Barefoot Doctoralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03116876526923906034noreply@blogger.com