just realize this is my first post of the month; November has been insanely hectic. perhaps as usual, this is the season when RAs need to apply to PhD programs, postdocs look for faculty jobs. besides the reference letters writing ***which is only a small part of it***, all of a sudden everyone wants to finish their manuscripts, get them submitted before their applications. as a co-author / senior author, of coz i mustn't be the weakest link holding them back...
i wonder if this means i've been taking on too much, biting off more than i could chew. throughout the year i'd like to think i generally keep myself not counter-productively busy. but maybe November is the best time to take stock. it's not a good estimate of how much one can do annually, if one cannot survive November. ah well, i'm still alive, just barely.
perhaps bioRxiv has changed things too, and i hadn't fully taken that into account. now applicants can get their papers submitted right before the application. and it wouldn't just be an empty claim that a paper is in review. people can actually click on the link to see the paper while it's going through the chimney. perhaps this means more people are rushing to finish manuscripts this time of the year now?
speaking of mentees and students, one of the fun things i've been doing since i've been back in HK is to be involved in the selection for Rhodes Scholars (there's one from the city every year, who get to be funded to study at Oxford). i'm happy to say this year we have a philosophy major winning it. i think it's the first time since 2001 (when i myself won it, with some inexplicable luck)
a truly exhausting month... still one more week to go & one more flight to take (for yet another conference in Japan). it may sound cliche but when i think of how well the young people will do, it makes it all the more bearable and worthwhile. increasingly, i realize they will be the target audience of my book too. the book will be about the future. winning them over is more important than convincing or impressing senior colleagues.
i wonder if this means i've been taking on too much, biting off more than i could chew. throughout the year i'd like to think i generally keep myself not counter-productively busy. but maybe November is the best time to take stock. it's not a good estimate of how much one can do annually, if one cannot survive November. ah well, i'm still alive, just barely.
perhaps bioRxiv has changed things too, and i hadn't fully taken that into account. now applicants can get their papers submitted right before the application. and it wouldn't just be an empty claim that a paper is in review. people can actually click on the link to see the paper while it's going through the chimney. perhaps this means more people are rushing to finish manuscripts this time of the year now?
speaking of mentees and students, one of the fun things i've been doing since i've been back in HK is to be involved in the selection for Rhodes Scholars (there's one from the city every year, who get to be funded to study at Oxford). i'm happy to say this year we have a philosophy major winning it. i think it's the first time since 2001 (when i myself won it, with some inexplicable luck)
a truly exhausting month... still one more week to go & one more flight to take (for yet another conference in Japan). it may sound cliche but when i think of how well the young people will do, it makes it all the more bearable and worthwhile. increasingly, i realize they will be the target audience of my book too. the book will be about the future. winning them over is more important than convincing or impressing senior colleagues.
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