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Mentoring is most often about encouragement, support, and sharing resources and information, but it can also be a reminder to proceed with caution.

I have a fear of screwing up my future that makes me crave more constructive feedback from my adviser than he tends to give.

I resisted the urge to cuss him out, jump, scream, or otherwise make a fool of myself, and we both rediscovered something "cool" about the project.

With all of the personalities and projects out there, the quest for a perfect fit is much like a search for the perfect pair of jeans.

America's place in the scientific universe is different, as is the way science and scientists are perceived by the society we work within.

As Dwight Eisenhower once said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." The same may be said for careers.

"I haven't given up, although I've thought about it."

I've come to that point in graduate school at which you dislike everything and everybody and want to do whatever you have to do to escape as quickly as possible.

Maybe the worst part about the job search is sending out an application for a job you just know you're well suited for and getting an unceremonious rejection, or even a nonanswer.

Have aliens taken over my advisor's body and released him from emotional oblivion?

We have to seek sources of comfort, our confidants, in other places.

What a difference some data make.

Criticism is hard to take, even if it's constructive.

"Now, a year later, it’s amazing how little those events have affected my daily life. I often feel removed from everything going on around me."

For those of you still on the conference warpath, good luck! For those of you still hidden in the lab, I hope you'll get out and see the sun soon. As for me, I'll be hunkered down in the lab; my travels for the year have ended.

It pays to keep in touch with people, especially if they seem genuinely interested in your success.

You learn to eat the elephant one bite at a time and not try swallowing it whole.

I can now add my dissertation to the list of things I've managed to finish in spite of my less-than-focused approach.

"I don’t have time for hostile relationships, especially with my adviser."

If you're going to get really neurotic about something, it's better if it's something with a definite endpoint.