I originally intended to use this blog to talk about all the ways I was trying to raise my daughters to be critical thinkers. However, recent developments in my career path have opened up a whole new door for me, which means I have new uses for this blog, which has been dormant for a year and a half. Let me explain:

I went to a small liberal arts college where I majored in biology. I enjoyed that environment immensely; the classes were small in size, the teachers knew all their students- as intimidating as that can be- and yet the professors still were able to carry on top notch research.

For a little while- because every other biology major was doing it- I decided to be pre-med. A few of my friends decided to go on to graduate school, instead, and that seemed like an even more abstract goal- after all, there were pre-med advisors but not pre-grad school advisers (or so I thought). So after graduation I took some time to work for a living, doing research, exploring my options.

Eventually I went back to school, to earn a PhD. I felt that my years of experience in the real world had better prepared me for my career choices. Again, because that was where everone was telling me to go, I thought to pursue a career in academic research. A few of my friends decided to go on in other directions- but those "alternative" careers seemed like an even more abstract goal- after all, my mentors all seemed to quietly look down upon these alternatives. So after graduation I decided to take some time to work in a generic post-doc position and keep all my options open.

If someone, all those years ago, had only told me what those options were, it would have saved me a lot of time.