LIFESTYLE // Life lately, and a career defining decision

Hello there!

I'm sure you can all agree that I have been a little quiet of late. I was in such a routine of posting 2 times a week (actually on schedule) and was super proud of myself for balancing study, a life and my blog. However, like every pending graduate, there comes a point when work takes priority and everything else just slips away. I want to start this post with YES I WILL KEEP POSTING THOUGH EXAM SEASON but PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT THE POSTS TO FOLLOW A SCHEDULE WHAT-SO-EVER. I finish exams super early so come June, expect posts galore from this girl.

Well, now that we've got that cleared up, I guess I should give you guys a little update!

As you probably know (if you don't - hi! How you doing?) I'm in the final year of my MChem degree. I have spent 2 semesters in a research lab and have had the joy of writing a 75 page report on what the hell I have been doing with my time for the past 6 or so months. Easter break came and all of my time was spent reading and re-writing my paper, scaling NMR spectra, checking grammar and now I am incredibly happy to say that my report has been given in! 

What started out as a 50 page paper I was happy with has scaled to a 69 page paper that I have been worrying about for about 2 weeks now. You know when you are just too involved and know you've spent so much time and effort on something and want it to do really well? Well that has been me but I keep picking holes and double-guessing myself and I can say it is now a relief that it is given in and nothing I can do will change it. I gave a presentation on my research today and have a Viva next week to defend everything but once those are over then I can 100% say that it is time for revision (I have never wanted to start revision so much in my life).

Let's be honest - I didn't have as productive an Easter as I had hoped. I really wanted to get on with revision but ended up spending more time with family, friends and James Bay (ah - so in Love). However, among all of the NMR spectra, integrations and synonyms for 'system' I managed to squeeze in time for a potentially life changing interview. I do not know why I have said 'potentially', in all fairness, because it was a life changing interview. It's absolutely crazy but somehow I am now in the position to yell to anyone who will listen that I am going to do a PhD.

Let me say it again...

I'VE BEEN OFFERED A PhD POSITION AND COULD BECOME DR RACHAEL!!!!

Sorry, I'll calm it down now. It's just that the decision to do a PhD and actually getting offered a position that is fully funded is apparently hard to come by these days. I have friends who I would see as better chemists than I hear nothing back and I'm sitting here with a smile on my face and text books around me in a circle (because I am thanking the academic Gods) thinking 'how am I so lucky?' I guess if you work hard and put all of your effort into something, you can do anything you really want.

If someone had told me when I was choosing my A Levels that I would go on to do a PhD in Chemistry you could have knocked me over with a feather. However, here we are 6 years later and I am both incredibly excited and absolutely petrified at the same time. I'm moving to a beautiful city to get involved in some research that I find really interesting and I honestly think could actually make an impact to science (naive undergrad me - I have been told this optimism will fade!). Even better, I'm getting paid to do it! I know very few people who can honestly say that they like their job and, if my masters is anything to go by, I bet I'll like my new position even more.

Choosing to do a PhD has been a difficult decision for me. After being told by pretty much everyone back home that doing Chemistry was not a good idea, it feels quite rewarding to come this far and prove them all wrong. Sure, some of them were completely within their right to say what they did way back when (only some of them) but that really doesn't matter now because look where I've ended up. As it turned out, I had a few choices to make that were easier said than done. I had to figure out what I really wanted, what I had and needed to think about me and not everyone else. It can be tough to just ignore the views and pleas of those around you, and certainly made my decision tougher, but I'm happy that I made the right decision for me. At the end of the day, that is what matters.

So that's my crazy big news. It still doesn't feel like it's really a thing. I say these things and it honestly feels like I'm just saying a bunch of non-connected words in a sentence with a few random letters. Obviously, I still need to get my grades and so must get back to presentation preparation and revision but now I have something to look forward to I'm hoping my productivity goes through the roof!

How have you guys been? Have you made any big decisions recently? Let me know!