Why Perpetual Science Camp?

I started a PhD program last fall because I was looking for a challenge.  Have you ever had the feeling that you just needed to do something?  Going back to grad school wasn't necessary or even entirely rational, but I decided to apply to PhD programs just to see if I could get in.  And by the time my top choice sent me an acceptance email, my decision was made.

Even though I initially found grad school overstimulating and exhausting, I knew from the first day that I would love it.  I  am fortunate to be attending a program where the people are as supportive and friendly as they are brilliant.  I couldn't quite put my finger on what is so satisfying about the experience until the professor I was teaching for shared an interesting science fact she had learned from a colleague earlier that day.  She commented that her job is like science camp, an endless playground of experimentation and new ideas to be discovered and shared.  I spent three summers at science camp as a teenager, so I knew exactly what she meant.  While my peers rode horses and stayed in cabins, I was living in a dorm and learning how to use a pipette.  Each summer I spent an entire week immersed in a university lab learning things that we'd never cover in my high school.  Now that I am a graduate student, I get to do this every day.  I have quickly discovered that when you get paid to learn cool things and run your own experiments, it's like perpetual science camp.  And thus a blog was born.