PhD done. And now what?

Write that article, organise your thoughts for the other, look for an expert to interview.

Find a job. Here, there, where?

Tailor CVs. Write cover letters. Who are they looking for? Why should you be that person? Can you find someone that works there? Can they introduce you?

Try to make something out of this blog. What is your final goal?

Don’t forget to write that paper!

Did I mention those four exams you decided to take in a month?

Breathe.

Can you pull your life together?

You have this title, what are you going to do with it?

You have three letters after your name that seem to own you and your life. Because if you don’t use them fully, you have just lost four years.

No pressure, though.

Despite the social pressure, in your heart, those three letters do not mean higher pay and recognition. They mean resilience, resources and adaptability. You do not have a two-way choice; you have a huge number of possibilities ahead of you.

Those three letters can be wherever you want them to be. And that’s just beautiful and inspiring. But it is also the scary bit, isn’t it?

Breathe, I said.

And maybe someone is judging. Maybe, someone thinks that your value is only the job you do or the money you make. For them, what you have is more important than who you are.

But that’s not you, is it?

When asked what you wanted to be as a grown-up, your answer was “happy“.

Not something, not someone. Just happy.

And what happiness means for you, may not exactly be what it means for somebody else. And that is ok. Isn’t it?

It is ok if happiness does not mean a fancy job or loads of money. It’s ok if it doesn’t mean living in the coolest city.

It is ok if what I desire, more than anything, for this title to do, is giving back to the community where I grew up. To help kids become fascinated with science, and adults rediscover that curiosity.

It is ok, isn’t it?

It is ok if what I desire is a life by the sea, waking up and falling asleep with the sound of the waves.

It’s ok if my desires are only mine.

However, I keep hearing that’s not ok; that I deserve better; that I should use my title somewhere else. Where life is not going to be so hard, and where my sacrifices can be recognised (with tons of money).

All I hear, however, is take, take, take. Take from a community that despite the thousands of challenges gave me so much growing up.

I never hear give back. And those few times I am able to get to the end of my thoughts and explain my point of view, they think I am a fool.

To be honest, I don’t think I am.

Yes, yes, I am going to go find a job.