{"id":2856,"date":"2019-06-10T11:04:41","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T11:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/what-life-is-like-on-the-science-grind\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T06:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T06:33:09","slug":"what-life-is-like-on-the-science-grind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/what-life-is-like-on-the-science-grind","title":{"rendered":"What life is like on the science grind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSpectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation\u201d- Robert H. Schuller (A televangelist who said an insightful thing at least once.)<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Some days I might be knee deep in a marsh, breathing in deeply the weird smell I\u2019ve come to love,\u00a0thanking my favorite deity (Mother Nature) that I don\u2019t have a desk job.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Other days, I might be extracting DNA to sequence and haplotype, thinking it is so cool that I know how to do something called \u201chaplotyping.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I might even find myself traveling through China to collect the invasive plant I study in its native range. And spending time talking to local people who cannot understand why I would be collecting this useless plant.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Collecting
Collecting invasive\u00a0Phragmites\u00a0in China<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But today\u2026Today, I\u2019m counting freaking\u00a0pollen grains. My eyes hurt. My heart hurts a little too. I turn on my audiobook, turn off my brain, and recite the mantra, \u201cThis paper is going to be awesome. This paper is going to be awesome. This paper is going to be awesome.\u201d Which eventually devolves to, \u201cOne more slide and I\u2019ll take a break. One more slide and I\u2019ll take a break.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I know all researchers can relate to this feeling. Grinding out the tedious, but necessary, data collection and hoping (but trying not to hope) something is significant.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I feel you. You are not alone. Back to the grind.*<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pretending<\/p>\n

*\u201cBack to the Grind\u201d as defined by the Urban Dictionary: \u201cBack to the Grind, is the phrase that all hustlers know. It means going back to the job at hand. We all have Grinds out there. It doesn\u2019t matter if you are doing the corporate grind (in a cubicle), if you are a MC workin on an album, if you are on the block moving work, if you are hitting the books to get the grade you want. It doesn\u2019t\u00a0matter. Life\u00a0is a\u00a0grind. If\u00a0you are living the Life that YOU WANT\u2026 you have to be on Your Grind\u2026 if not, you\u2019re living the life that someone is dictating for you!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Sara Wigginton (<\/i>@sarawigginton<\/i><\/a>) is a PhD Student and a Microbial Ecologist. This story was published on February 9, 2016, on the blog, \u2018<\/i>Sweet Tea Science<\/i><\/a>\u2019 (available <\/i>here<\/i><\/a>) and has been republished here with permission.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSpectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation\u201d- Robert H. Schuller (A televangelist who said an insightful thing at least once.) Some days I might be knee deep in a marsh, breathing in deeply the weird smell I\u2019ve come to love,\u00a0thanking my favorite deity (Mother Nature) that I don\u2019t have a desk job. Other days, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":955,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2414],"tags":[2673,2454],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-researcher-stories","tag-a-day-in-the-life","tag-researcher-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat life is like on the science grind<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sara Wigginton is a PhD Student and a Microbial Ecologist. 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