Dear Ecologgers, This discussion about family and science has been very interesting to follow. Whether single or married, childless or not, everyone is entitled to and should stand for nothing less than a balanced life - whatever that means to them. And the definition of success is subjective to the individual. As my wise advisor often reminded me, what is right for one person is not right for another. If at the end of the day you are happy, you are successful whether you use your education at home to improve the lives of yourself and your family or to make grand contributions to the scientific community. I have never in my 40 years regretted sticking to what I believed was right for me even if it was against the advise of others. Only you know what is right for you and if you truly want something you will figure out how to do it. My point is, that it is up to each one of us to make it OK to live our lives the way we want.
CR On Apr 12, 2012, at 6:41 PM, Steven Schwartz wrote: > "many of us higher quality scientists" I don't often post here but that is > about as arrogant a statement as I have read. It is that kind of thinking > that has made me distance myself from much of the ESA community. I have > authored or co-authored 30 papers and would never dream of casting myself or > anyone else as a "high quality scientist." I'm not sure of the size of your > ego but I a dose of modesty might be in order. And as for hard work > equalling reward, there is just as much chance involved as there is effort. > I have seen too many hard working ecologists suffer at the hands of fate and > who you worked for or know. At my first ESA meeting, almost 30 years ago, I > was taken aback when the first question people had for me was "who do you > work for?" referring to my PhD advisor. Not anything about what I was > studying or the quality of my work. Things haven't changed nor will they. > I'm only sorry I never knew the right people or went to the right school. > > SSS
