Some self-reflection on how music and math shaped my career choices as the end of the first year of my postdoc comes to a close.
Category: Opinion
Diversity is good for science: Math and the status quo
A lot of people where I come from view diversity as a political thing. Some people think that having recruiting or retention preferences don't contribute to anything but some abstract social ideal. I've seen several things firsthand that counter that idea, but wanted to share one experience that specifically involves math (because its "objective"). I… Continue reading Diversity is good for science: Math and the status quo
Four Tips on Dealing with Rejection
Awhile back I wrote about how I obsessively applied to every opportunity that I was even remotely eligible for and tracked my success and failures over the years. I know that part of the problem with applying for things comes from a disbelief that you could actually be selected for something. That might come from… Continue reading Four Tips on Dealing with Rejection
Application Statistics: PhD Student to Postdoc
In 2017 I was halfway through my PhD and frustrated with the opportunities available to me at my home institution. Conferences were rarely held even far away, and no travel funding. I thought even if I did apply, I would probably get rejected anyway. Apparently that mentality is common in women. So I started applying… Continue reading Application Statistics: PhD Student to Postdoc
Preparing for grad school
You'll always worry about being smart enough, clever enough, reading and writing enough. You can always do remedial classes (I did and wow is it easier than when I was a freshman). Here's some things that might help you prepare for the hard parts of grad school. Therapist Absolutely necessary. Have you seen the data… Continue reading Preparing for grad school
Happy New Year!
Last year was very eventful for me. I've been a bit busy to write many blog posts but I'm ready to get back into it. Over the next year I'll be writing about my experiences in grad school, postdoc, and the transition; as well as some of the projects I've been working on and coding… Continue reading Happy New Year!
Putting my imposter syndrome to work
When I started graduate school I had pretty low self-esteem. I wanted to study mathematical biology, but I still held on to some sexist self-directed beliefs about being bad at math and programming. This resulted in pretty strong imposter syndrome. I've had to teach to support myself through grad school (except a spring/summer semester). I… Continue reading Putting my imposter syndrome to work
The best years of your life are right now
Recently there has been a lot of discussion around work-life balance in academia, particularly for early career researchers and students. It wasn't until very recently that I personally began to be interested in this issue. Last year I wrote about how I never felt the need to reduce or alter my workload. At that point… Continue reading The best years of your life are right now
How I was affected by stereotypes of women in math and philosophy
When I was a freshman I took calculus, like many biology majors. I was told I would fail, so naturally I absolutely had to get an A. My class was relatively small, about 50 students. A good variety of students, including gender and race, since it was in Louisiana. There was a group of loud… Continue reading How I was affected by stereotypes of women in math and philosophy
Managing multiple research projects
My method: Using white paper and a clear report folder with clip, write project names on papers with your 4+ week goals Each week, write on a note card all you'd like to get done that wk, categorized by project title Then on a separate notecard, write ~4 things to do each wk. As the… Continue reading Managing multiple research projects
i am become computational 