Although lab work sometimes can be tedious and the payback may be questionable, although sometimes you feel like nothing is truly moving forward, the overall trajectory that your life follows when you commit to an academic career can be very satisfactory. Today, the first email I received was one from Rijeka, in Croatia (somewhere in Europe), informing me that the book I edited and for which we contributed one full chapter has finally been published. It is available online at
http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/43240/InTech-Influenza_a_virus_multiplication_and_the_cellular_sumoylation_system.pdf
It is stuff like this that makes you feel that your efforts are worth it. It is almost as good as the satisfaction I feel when my students let me know that they "are getting it" and that they "enjoy my classes." But nothing compares with the feeling you get when you get emails like this one that I received yesterday:
"Hello Dr. Rosas-Acosta, I just recieved a letter from Boston for the EMSSP program and I thought it would interest you to know that I have been asked to go to Boston for an interview! I am very happy and would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this, without you this would have not been possible.
Thank you,"
Yep, an academic career can be pretty satisfactory. Doing research is second to nothing. And teaching young minds and opening doors to hundreds of brilliant students is also second to nothing.
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