The New New Deja Vu
Yesterday morning, as I was ascending the long escalator out of the Metro station and into Dupont Circle (a hip-and-trendy neighborhood here in D.C. with lots of restaurants and non-profits), I was struck with a peculiar sense of deja vu. Something about the angle of the sun and the not-quite-cool, not-quite-warm feel of the air reminded me very strongly of the end of summer and the first day of school. It was also a sensation of newness, usually associated with new books, new classes, new subjects, but this September, for the first time in 24 years I won't be student.
And actually, it's rather shocking to put it that way. 24 years! Sheesh.
Sure, I've had time away from the classroom: almost a year off between college and grad school, a three-month break during my second year, and the past seven months working as a post-doc. But it always seemed that come September, like some migratory geek, I'd be enrolled in something or other. Of course, now I'm looking for a real job, so there's still a lot of newness to be had. Some might say 'too much' newness.
One month ago, my wife and I were frantically packing up our apartment in Chicago, preparing for the big move. We did the drive in one day: 14 hours, 800 miles and seven states later we (and all our stuff) were in Northern Virginia. We only stuck around in Virginia long enough for a family wedding before it was off to California for a few weeks of vacationing with my family, back-packing, friend-visiting and yet more wedding-attending. Now we're back in VA trying to unpack and handle all the little administrative projects that need taking care of, like getting dental insurance and re-registering the car. Psychologically, I'm pretty travelled-out and ready to be settled somewhere, although part of me still thinks I'll be returning to Chicago.
Oh yeah, I've been job-interviewing also. I had an interview on Tuesday for a job I'm really psyched about (more about that later) and another interview a few weeks ago. It's really gratifying to get responses back from resumes sent off into the ether, but now I'm on pins-and-needles waiting to hear if I got it. Wish me luck...
Which brings me back to the Dupont Circle Metro escalator, where I was headed for my new internship. The awesome folks at Student Pugwash have kindly offered me an internship for the fall -- they're also the ones who put me up to this blog thing, and they have a fabulous new blog of their own, check it out here. The internship is unpaid (as these things typically are) but also a tremendous opportunity to meet people who know about science and policy in the DC area, as well as helping out with a great group dedicated to ethical science education.
So that brings us up to the 'now', with more coming soon...
And actually, it's rather shocking to put it that way. 24 years! Sheesh.
Sure, I've had time away from the classroom: almost a year off between college and grad school, a three-month break during my second year, and the past seven months working as a post-doc. But it always seemed that come September, like some migratory geek, I'd be enrolled in something or other. Of course, now I'm looking for a real job, so there's still a lot of newness to be had. Some might say 'too much' newness.
One month ago, my wife and I were frantically packing up our apartment in Chicago, preparing for the big move. We did the drive in one day: 14 hours, 800 miles and seven states later we (and all our stuff) were in Northern Virginia. We only stuck around in Virginia long enough for a family wedding before it was off to California for a few weeks of vacationing with my family, back-packing, friend-visiting and yet more wedding-attending. Now we're back in VA trying to unpack and handle all the little administrative projects that need taking care of, like getting dental insurance and re-registering the car. Psychologically, I'm pretty travelled-out and ready to be settled somewhere, although part of me still thinks I'll be returning to Chicago.
Oh yeah, I've been job-interviewing also. I had an interview on Tuesday for a job I'm really psyched about (more about that later) and another interview a few weeks ago. It's really gratifying to get responses back from resumes sent off into the ether, but now I'm on pins-and-needles waiting to hear if I got it. Wish me luck...
Which brings me back to the Dupont Circle Metro escalator, where I was headed for my new internship. The awesome folks at Student Pugwash have kindly offered me an internship for the fall -- they're also the ones who put me up to this blog thing, and they have a fabulous new blog of their own, check it out here. The internship is unpaid (as these things typically are) but also a tremendous opportunity to meet people who know about science and policy in the DC area, as well as helping out with a great group dedicated to ethical science education.
So that brings us up to the 'now', with more coming soon...
posted by t | 9:53 AM
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