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Working with a professor and lab mates from back home make for an easier, more congenial experience than plunging into a strictly American cultural environment.

"It's on-the-ground, in-depth research with a very qualitative component." --Olivia Salcido

"Generally, I find that people are attracted to enthusiasm if it's unfettered and for the right reasons," says Hendrik Poinar, director of McMaster University's Ancient DNA Laboratory.

A Ph.D. is great on fundamentals--it teaches you how to make something completely on your own--but it falls short on the practical stuff every entrepreneur has to master.

Here are six examples of behavioral scientists who have stepped off the academic path into some interesting territory.

This is the first time researchers have been able to connect brain activity with a real-life consumer decision.

If you're entrenched in something that isn't your lifelong passion--see below--you've got to get off those rails and find some way to get back on the right track.

"Teaching at a community college is not lecturing; it's more hands-on. You have to do a lot more work as a teacher, because students are not nearly as prepared." --Michaeleen Lee

I think it makes sense for people who aren't satisfied to air their grievances, but it's important to do it constructively and strategically.

Although efforts to provide real career opportunities for more scientists would create stronger incentives for Americans to seek science careers, the political momentum appears to be on the side of granting more H-1B visas.

"I had no idea that there were other African-American woman astronomers until I hooked up with the National Society of Black Physicists during my master's degree." --Jarita Holbrook

"Listen to everyone who has something to say, file the opinions, and make your own decisions anyway." --Avi Spier

"To me, having a Ph.D. and being a professor is a lifelong learning experience. The degree, to me, is to teach you how to teach yourself later on." --Adil Shamoo

"People who go through the Pharm.D. training have a knowledge of the chemicals and the development process, and how it interacts with the patient, that adds a tremendous dimension to the clinical trials." --David Cooper

"My passion is helping patients, and their care comes first in my job. For me, it's all about attaining loyalty and trust." --Heather Free

My attitude is that if you are stuck, you should do anything you can to get unstuck as long as it's not illegal, unethical, or obviously foolish.

“Our recent personal history teaches us that what we will most likely receive when we seek guidance is a swift kick in the pants.”