Quitting before it’s too late.

by | Oct 8, 2026 | Daily Notes

I saw a post from someone who had just quit their PhD program. The person cited realizing they didn’t have the passion or capacity for academic research. All I could think of was: Kudos to you for realizing that.Kudos for realizing it early.Kudos for being brave...

Know who YOU are first.

by | Oct 6, 2026 | Daily Notes

“I am getting a PhD in *insert discipline.* What industries and job titles will be the best for me?” This is a legitimate question. And here is why asking other people to tell you what YOU should do with YOUR degree can be a terrible idea. The person you...

No experience is wasted.

by | Oct 1, 2026 | Daily Notes

Recently, one of my community college students emailed me to inform me that he got into medical school. I was so thrilled that I asked him to send his white coat ceremony pictures. Yesterday, he emailed the pictures. Here’s why I am sharing that story. In...

The culture of waiting in academia.

by | Sep 28, 2026 | Daily Notes

The academic system teaches us to wait. You wait for admission into a school or program. You wait for approval to conduct research. You wait for an editor to say your paper is good enough to share with the world. Nothing wrong with institutional processes. But oh, can...

Specialization ≠ limitation

by | Sep 23, 2026 | Daily Notes

For the most part, higher education teaches us to become specialists. Nothing wrong with it until I see folks confusing specialization with limitation. In a world where careers are increasingly nonlinear, your ability to unpack, recombine, and redeploy your...

Remind yourself of the past.

by | Sep 22, 2026 | Daily Notes

A few years ago, I was perusing the publications that had cited my papers and came across a patent application. My eyes bulged, and I clicked through to read what the patent was for. It was for a wound-healing device and my earlier work on epithelial cells seemed to...