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Offline lemonoman

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Life
« on: June 04, 2007, 11:34:24 PM »
I don't want to take up space in another part of the forum, but I felt like writing an inspiration piece.

So I haven't been hanging around chemicalforums much anymore.  Not because I don't like chemistry, not because this isn't a great forum.  I've just been doing a lot of thinking and stuff.  A lot of the posts I've made recently have been to people who were asking questions about their futures.  That's what I'm into right now.

So this is an appeal to everyone who reads this.  Reply, and tell us what you REALLY want from life.  I guess that could get personal, so just list the ones you're comfortable with.  I've done this, and I found it amazing just how what I was doing, didn't match where I wanted to go in life.

Last thing, I know this whole thing sounds cliche, and it probably doesn't sound too fun to just sit around making sure your life is on track to where you want it to go...you have to have fun in the NOW as well.  Don't give up fun in the present, unless you're sacrificing fun in the future to do it!

So here's my values:

I want to be a professor of chemistry.
I want a family when I grow up.
I want good friends for the years to come.
I want to be able to bring smiles to everyone I meet.

Am I working towards them?

- Entering my Ph.D. program in September.
- This is tough to plan for, but meeting girls is always important.  I wasn't doing that earlier in my undergrad career, but now I make a point to meet and get to know lots of people.
- Friends is also covered by meeting people
- This just takes practice and a willingness to improve yourself, I figure.  I'm working on it...but it will mean a lot to me when I can do it.

I hope people are inspired to take a retrospective on where they are and where they want to go :)

Always yours,

lemonoman, the poster formerly known as the Analytical Gangsta

Offline Mitch

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Re: Life
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2007, 02:15:03 AM »
Where you going for PhD?
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Offline Bronwen Dekker

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Re: Life
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2007, 05:45:23 PM »
While I am STILL not sure what I really want from life, I do have a 'happily-ever-after' imaginary place that I escape to... a lot...

It looks something like this:
A single storied house with large rooms and not much furniture. There is a room that contains nothing except a thick carpet and a good sound system. This is where I rest and listen to music.
There is a large garden with many fruit trees. There are bare-foot children climbing in the trees. Some of the children are mine. There is grass, but there are no flower beds.
I work from home. I give piano and extra-maths lessons. In the evenings musicians come to visit and we play stuff.

My real life looks something like this:
I live in a small flat filled with books, computers and boxes of holiday photographs. There is a piano and I play a lot. I work as an assistant editor for Nature Protocols - which I really enjoy - and have the opportunity to work one-day a week from home.
I am married and have no children. I have a pet rat called 'Rat' who has recently started chewing the computer cables.

I don't regret having done the chemistry/biochemistry/research thing as I have had a really good time and it has definitely been interesting. But it does feel a bit as though I have almost absent-mindedly chosen a path that will never lead to my happily-ever-after.
There is no problem involved in becoming your own father or mother that a broadminded and well-adjusted family can't cope with. -Douglas Adams

I blog here and have started a collection of "protocols in boxes".

I work at Nature Protocols.

Offline Mitch

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Re: Life
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2007, 04:42:31 AM »
My more immediate goal is to finish my PhD and become a professor at a Cal-State school.

Mitch
« Last Edit: June 10, 2007, 08:47:56 PM by Mitch »
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Offline lemonoman

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Re: Life
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2007, 03:32:09 PM »
Where you going for PhD?

University of Toronto.  I thought about going the U.S., but that was back when the currency exchange didn't make it favorable.  No with the Canadian Dollar and American Dollar almost on par with each other, you guys might be seeing a few more Canadians down south :)


Bronwen Dekker, that's fabolous.  It sounds like you're content with life, which is absolutely key.


One of my concerns (I don't let it bother me too much, because there isn't TOO much I can do about it), is that people focus too much on chemistry.  I know a few of people who devote their LIVES to this field...nothing other than a job in chemistry (usually high up, because they're so devoted).  They don't seem very happy, but they can't bring themselves to make any changes, that would make them happier.  I don't wish that on anyone.

Live on,

- lemonoman

Offline enahs

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Re: Life
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2007, 06:34:03 PM »
Mostly what I want out of life is to pay off my student loans when I am done with school before my children begin college! That would be freakin' schweet.

Offline Donaldson Tan

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Re: Life
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2007, 07:34:34 PM »
University of Toronto.  I thought about going the U.S., but that was back when the currency exchange didn't make it favorable. 

Nice place. There is always a big difference between our dreams and reality.

It is always hard work to recouncile our lives with our dreams and aspirations. I secured funding to develop a chemical process I came up with. Hopefully, by next year, I can commercialise this into the next big spin-off from my university department. It is so stressful and hectic to juggle exams with aspirations. I thought the hard part was convincing the college to invest in my process, turns out the harder part is planning all the required technical details. I have never managed an entire laboratory on my own.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2007, 08:44:00 PM by geodome »
"Say you're in a [chemical] plant and there's a snake on the floor. What are you going to do? Call a consultant? Get a meeting together to talk about which color is the snake? Employees should do one thing: walk over there and you step on the friggin� snake." - Jean-Pierre Garnier, CEO of Glaxosmithkline, June 2006

Offline constant thinker

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Re: Life
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2007, 10:03:27 PM »
It is always hard work to recouncile our lives with our dreams and aspirations. I secured funding to develop a chemical process I came up with. Hopefully, by next year, I can commercialise this into the next big spin-off from my university department. It is so stressful and hectic to juggle exams with aspirations. I thought the hard part was convincing the college to invest in my process, turns out the harder part is planning all the required technical details. I have never managed an entire laboratory on my own.

Congrats on what seams to be a really good thing for you. I would love to develop something that actually gets used in the real world.

I have absolutely no clue at all where I want to go in life. I have a list of possible colleges to apply to that grows and shrinks every day, I can't decide on which teachers to get to write my recomendations, I'm still debating on either double majoring in Bio/Chem then going to grad school for O Chem or some other branch, I'm debating on skipping the double major and just majoring in biochem, I can't figure out what classes I'm taking next year completely because my school has been turned upside down by the retirement of 21 teachers and the transfer of 6 more which has screwed up a lot of the classes for next year, I can't figure anything out anymore. My whole life is up in the air. I'll have to decide on it soon so I can ask teachers to write my recomendations for me since they won't have a contract next year, and when they don't have contracts (this happened to me in the past) most teachers don't do anything more than teach their 4-6 classes.

Sigh... My life has little direction if any at all. I'll figure it out by the end of this year though, or at least most of it... hopefully.  :)
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' " -Ronald Reagan

"I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniels." -Frank Sinatra

Offline Donaldson Tan

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Re: Life
« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2007, 11:25:33 PM »
Exams can be really stressful!!

Sigh... My life has little direction if any at all. I'll figure it out by the end of this year though, or at least most of it... hopefully.  :)

You aren't the only one. I am still unclear of my personal career outlook.

I chose chemical engineering because it boosted the best career prospects among all the engineering and scientific careers. However, once I entered university, my interest quickly developed into international politics and modern history. Before I knew it, I was chairing Model United Nations conferences and writing petitions. I wished so badly I was studying Politics & Economics instead of Chemical Engineering then. It was a great experience though - I developed skills in stakeholder management, networked with policy-makers and worked with NGOs.

Now, after working on the RWE N Power Energy Challenge, my focus returned to engineering instantly since I realise I can directly engage with climate change in a personal capacity as an engineer, a concerned citizen and a businessman. Least now, although I dread engineering partially, I do see myself having a viable future in it.
« Last Edit: June 07, 2007, 12:27:19 AM by geodome »
"Say you're in a [chemical] plant and there's a snake on the floor. What are you going to do? Call a consultant? Get a meeting together to talk about which color is the snake? Employees should do one thing: walk over there and you step on the friggin� snake." - Jean-Pierre Garnier, CEO of Glaxosmithkline, June 2006

Offline lemonoman

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Re: Life
« Reply #9 on: June 07, 2007, 11:00:25 AM »


Sigh... My life has little direction if any at all. I'll figure it out by the end of this year though, or at least most of it... hopefully.  :)

You aren't the only one. I am still unclear of my personal career outlook.


Just to build on those thoughts, I'll shout out that not having a plan isn't always a bad thing, I figure.  If you do a little research in your undergrad, you definitely have your pick of grad schools (maybe not the top ones, but a good variety nonetheless).  I can't tell you how many times I changed what I wanted to do in the field of chemistry.

Point being, the direction your journey through life takes will change.  It could change in a heartbeat tomorrow, if you meet someone special or something tragic happens (knock on wood).  It could change gradually over a month or year.  You just have to make sure you're having fun along the way :)

Offline hmx9123

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Re: Life
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2007, 01:28:56 AM »
I used to have plans on finishing my PhD, becoming a professor, etc., but after 4 years of grad school, all I want is some sleep.  :)

Offline mir

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Re: Life
« Reply #11 on: June 08, 2007, 06:50:43 AM »
My big dream was to own a large cottage in the mountains and guiding tourists on fishing-trips in the vacations. It still is my dream, but I am sure this will be very boring in the length of time. I need to do some brain-gymnastics or else I get mad and crazy. So chemistry and photography is just perfect. I love my chemistry books and the GC/MS.

I am not very anxious about the future, I know I am a resourceful person and I can adapt really easily. I am not aiming for any researcher-career for the moment. I have a girlfriend, we have lived together two years now. In the future we will buy a house, and have a dog and a cat. The usual. Someplace with snow and real seasons, not "almost winter, almost summer".   
No single thing abides, but all things flow.
Fragment to fragment clings, and thus they grow
Until we know and name them.
Then by degrees they change and are no more
The things we know.
- Titus Lucretius Carus

http://www.ife.no

Offline Ψ×Ψ

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Re: Life
« Reply #12 on: June 10, 2007, 08:39:35 PM »
So many people here seem to want families.  I don't.  Marriage is a possibility, but it is unlikely.  More than likely, I will just live with whomever I happen to be with (as is my current situation).  Children will never happen (yay!). 
Right now I'm going for crazy cat lady.  I have three at the moment, so that looks doable.  I'd like to travel a lot more.  I'm not willing to admit what my career goals might be at the moment.  I'm not sure they're attainable, and I like to change my mind.

Offline AhmedEzatAlzawalaty

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Re: Life
« Reply #13 on: January 03, 2008, 04:40:02 AM »
I wanna have Nobel Prize when i grow up in the field of chemistry i wanna make something that has never come on mindz.

Offline FeLiXe

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Re: Life
« Reply #14 on: January 03, 2008, 10:21:50 AM »
my prof's wife who is also a chemist told me that everyone should go for the nobel prize (at first at least)
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