Spring 2013 Update

In the six months since the last update, there have been a few developments.

Amber will be working at Sayre School this fall. We are very excited for the career opportunity for her there. She signed a contract already to teach 3rd grade, but she is also still being considered for their opening as Academic Services Director, which was her primary aim before.

Factoring family into the work-life balance equation

I just read an interesting article in The Atlantic about how young people feel that a family and a career are mutually exclusive. The writer attempts to persuade the reader that the benefits of family outweigh its costs/time/energy and that our policies in government and business should do more to facilitate child-rearing. It concludes:

It's hard—harder than either our government or our employers are willing to recognize and accommodate. That's why we need change. But make no mistake: Having children is the best thing I've ever done, by a mile. The pleasure of helping and watching them grow, of family life (even with its fights and scenes), of the shared bond between my husband and me as parents (even when we disagree), and of the depth of love it is possible to feel for other human beings... I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Focusing on the impact of a family on career, I find it interesting that my time management concerns are not much different than that of my fellow graduate students.

Graduate education

rev. 5/7/13

As outlined in a previous post, I received an M.S. (non-thesis) in Chemistry from UF in August of 2007. I then went to work for five years: three teaching high-school chemistry and two working as a staff scientist in an electrical engineering lab making deep-UV LEDs. In August of 2012 I decided to return to finish my Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Kentucky.

Here is my progress towards that goal thus far:

Update Winter 2012

I have decided to discontinue the numbering scheme of the update series. Sort of like the "new iPad" thing.

I thought I'd write a quick update since I have a few days off. We are all doing very well. I wanted to revisit the change of events since no major changes have occurred since these:

As recounted in a previous update, in late June, Amber was offered a job at a private school in Lexington. I then started looking around for a job for a while before deciding to go back to grad school and finish the Ph.D. that I neglected for an M.S at UF. Everything came together really fast, actually. We even bought a house when moving here. I'm sure anyone can imagine the whirlwind/chaos of moving the family from SC to KY, the kids starting new schools, starting new jobs, renting out the old house and buying a new one. Anyway, now we are all pretty settled in our new routine.

Fall 2012 Schedule

I have posted my fall schedule here. The times that I am not in class, teaching or doing office hours for students, I will most likely be in the lab of the Glazer group.