The Retirement Newsletter: Looking back — reflecting on my career
Issue Number: -1 — was it worth it?
Welcome
This week, in issue -1, I look back at my career and ask if it was worth all the hard work.
Forty years in science
A few weeks ago, I was running a tutorial, and we were discussing careers in science. I told my students why I got into science and how my career had panned out. I realised there were three distinct phases — the school days — the university days, and the professional days.
The school days
At school, I was good at science and maths. It all came easily to me, and I enjoyed it. I had an “enquiring mind” from an early age, and I liked to know and understand how things worked — I still do. I have never lost that curiosity.
I was the classic nerd at school, and when I left, it seemed only natural for me to go to university to study science.
The university student days
Looking back, I didn’t make the most of my undergraduate degree. I was lazy and didn’t fully appreciate all that was on offer. I was still enjoying my science and discovered that I enjoyed lab work — lectures not so much. When I finished my first degree, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I decided to get a job as a research assistant at a university until I could come up with a better plan. Forty years later, I’m still working at a university.
The professional days
I got my first job as a professional scientist while at university. I spent a summer working at a water research company, and every Monday morning, I would collect a gallon of activated sludge from the local sewage plant. (I will leave you to work out what is in activated sludge.)
After graduation, I worked as a research assistant, and it was during this time I decided I wanted to pursue a career in science.
After four years as a research assistant, during which I also completed a master’s degree, I moved on to a Ph.D. When I was finishing my Ph.D., I wanted to stay at the university I was studying to continue my research. However, we didn’t get the funding, and I was lucky enough to be offered a position as a post-doctoral research fellow in a lab in the States. I often wonder what would have happened if we had got that grant and I had stayed on.
I never intended to leave the UK and work in the US, but the opportunity came along, and I decided to take it.
The decision to study for a PhD and then move to the US were the two best decisions I made during my career. I loved my time working on my PhD and being in the US. Both were hard work, but I got to do some great science and meet interesting people.
After five years in the US, I started to run into visa issues and decided to return to the UK. After many job applications, I got a lectureship at the university.
I am still unsure if getting a position as a lecturer was a good or bad move. It was a good move in that I came back to the UK, and it was good because I discovered I liked teaching. I was initially very nervous about teaching, but I found that I enjoyed it and looked forward to lecturing and running labs. And it will be the teaching that I will miss when I am retired. However, becoming a lecturer was wrong; it destroyed my research career. I no longer had the time to do research. I also failed to secure the funding to employ people to research for me.
As a lecturer, I had four key decision points — forks in the road.
The first was realising that my research career was over and that I would never achieve sufficient funding to continue my work. As painful as it was, at this point, I decided to move fully into teaching.
The second key fork was my decision to move abroad to teach. From a personal perspective, this was a great decision, as I got to see parts of the world that I had never expected to see. I had a great time. Again, I met some great people, and I think I did some good work. However, in terms of my career in the UK, spending three years abroad teaching did me no favours, even though I worked for a UK university overseas.
The third key decision point was when I decided to leave the university I had worked at for over 20 years and move to a different university. This move was triggered by a desire to push my teaching further and explore new ideas, something I felt I could not do at the university I was working for at the time.
This was a good move because, thanks to COVID-19, I got to push my teaching in some exciting directions. Unfortunately, since ‘the end’ (we still have COVID-19, and I don’t consider it over) of COVID-19, we have gone back to the old pre-COVID ways of teaching and lost all the progress we made during the lockdowns — a real shame.
The final and fourth key point was the decision to retire.
I had reached a point where, when I looked at where I was working, I could see no opportunities to pursue my interest in teaching. The university had decided to restructure the courses, which meant that instead of being able to focus on teaching students, I would be spending the next four years restructuring the courses and dealing with the consequences of the changes. I felt my choices were to either find a new job or retire. I opted for retirement.
Was it worth it?
Well, it has been a lot of work and study. I spent three years studying for my first degree, two years on a part-time master’s degree, and three years on my PhD. I also spent five years in the States as a postdoc. So, it was a long haul to become a lecturer — a position I am still unsure was best for me. Would I have enjoyed my career more if I had stayed as a researcher? If I had stayed in research, I would have missed out on teaching.
Have I been a success as a scientist and a lecturer? I like to think so. I have published and added to scientific knowledge. I have taught thousands of students, and while I am not saying it was all down to me, many of them have gone on to have very successful careers and contribute. So, yes, I think it has been a success, and it was worth it. I have made a difference, I have learnt a lot, and I have travelled the world. It has been fun.
It’s time for the next adventure and a new set of challenges.
Travel — Nostalgia Corner
This week, tales from the start of my visit to Bali:
Bali — International Arrival Hall Ngurah Rai, Bali, Indonesia — Arriving in Bali. My pre-booked taxi was waiting, and I got introduced to the roads of Bali.
Bali — Gajah Biru Bungalows, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia — This was my base for the next few days. It was a great little find, and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay.
Bali — The Paon Balinese and International Restaurant, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia — Eating out on my first night in Bali.
Bali — Pura Taman Ayun, Bali, Indonesia — It was time to start exploring, and the first place I visited was a Royal Water Temple. Impressive stonework, and I found the split gates incredible.
Bali — Pulled over by the police in Bali, Indonesia — Pulled over — now what?
Next week, more stories from Bali.
Next week
Next week, it is issue -0.5, and I will tell you how I may have lost 12% of my pension because I was not informed about some changes to how it is calculated.
Thanks
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Until next time,
Nick
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