Out of grad school and into the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

As I finished typing up my Ph.D. dissertation in the spring of 2009, I began exploring non-academic job prospects.  My boyfriend and I had been dating for a couple of years and were looking forward to getting married and starting a life together—a life that included balance.  From my observations as a graduate student, I noticed that only a few PI’s seemed to successfully mesh their careers and personal lives together well.  And knowing myself, I was pretty certain that I would never be one of those few.