There is no way that I expected such a wild ride when I got on a plane to DC on Thursday. I expected to 1) go to the Opera, which was lovely, 2) deal with some drama with the teachers, which I did, and 3) have some good food and good ideas before coming home, which also happened. I thought my big win for the conference was going to be the meeting I arranged with the Congressional Science Fellows to talk w/ our GK12 fellows about their fellowship and their thoughts on science and public policy.
I did not expect to have a conversation w/ a dear friend about the lack of social media integration into the NSF GK12 program that would lead to me talking to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) about the GK12's need to be saved from being slashed by Congress. I didn't expect the AAAS representatives I was speaking to about the issues my friend and I had discussed to 1) remember me from last year (thanks to hubs in uniform in tow at the meeting), 2) remember that I had questioned NSF's program officers publicly the night before about their decision to just tack outreach on to other graduate fellowships, and 3) ask me to speak about what people could do to save GK12. It happened. I HATE speaking in public, mostly because I tremble, feel faint and want to vomit. It's anxiety. I also knew that being invited to speak at a meeting is a rare occurrence and so when it comes by you have to grab it, because you never know if or when it will come by again.
Although they gave me a couple of hours of lead time (which is still not much), I never got to use it to collect my thoughts. Most people who go to a National Mtg know that when the conference is on, your on 24/7, networking your butt off. So as much as I tried to run off and find a quiet place to think, I never got the chance. I was the final speaker, before everyone broke off into small group sessions and while the ballroom was not entirely full, there were at least 50 people there, possibly more. I can't exactly remember what I said, which I suppose is one of the perks of an off the cuff speech. I can't regret anything I said if I can't remember it. Everyone told me it was wonderful and powerful, which I suppose is a good thing. What was truly surprising was the series of interactions I had subsequently.
After my talk we broke into small groups. While I initially sat with two young women who are tenure track faculty at teaching universities, I rapidly realized that they were rehashing much of what my advisors and I had already discussed. I moved on and sat down with another Congressional Science Fellow and we fell into conversation about what I am going to do when I grow up. He suggested that I consider doing the Congressional Science Fellowship program, which places PhDs in both government agencies (including the DoD) and in individual Congressmen and Senator's offices where they work on public policy issues. He said it is a good springboard to NGO work, including think tanks.
I told him I had been flirting with the idea, but that I had heard it was hard to get a "bench top" (research science) position afterward and that if I wasn't sure I wanted a career away from the bench, I should do a postdoc position somewhere first. This is why if I could swing a position in a friend's lab, which has been dangled in front of me I might do that first. It would mean I wouldn't have to move for a couple of years (which has it's own set of + and -). I told him that if I did that, I was thinking I would run for school board to improve the educational system locally and dabble in public policy at the same time. Another gentleman overheard me and handed me his card, telling me that he had a friend who helps scientists run for political office and so if I was serious he would put me in touch. Then I ended up having a nice chat with an older gentleman about the GK12 program and why it is important, who I identified about 3/4ths of the way through the conversation as a member of the press. That may have been a fail on my part. Hopefully I didn't say anything too stupid that ends up in print.
It was a bizarre Saturday to say the least. I didn't really do any science. I don't really consider myself a world authority on anything, but there I was being asked to be the authority on an issue. I kind of still keep looking around like, "are you sure you want me and not someone else?"
Sunday morning, I ran into the AAAS people again and they thanked me for speaking. I told them I only had one talent, being a rabble rouser. They said that in that case they might ask me to speak again.
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