Call for posts for the June Scientiae: Moving Forward

Alice and I are teaming up to host the June edition of Scientiae, the carnival by, for, and about women in science, engineering, technology, and math. As is the norm for the monthly Scientiae carnival, I get to choose a theme to help inspire and unite you all to write posts, though submissions on any topic related to women in STEM are always welcome.

At this time of year, some of us are just emerging from the end of the semester, while others still have another month to slog through before getting a reprieve. Some people are within spitting distance of finishing their research project or degree, while others feel like they have years more to battle cranky equipment or stare at disappointing data. While some of us maybe carefree and happy-go-lucky, others people may be struggling on the personal front.

We're all at different stages of our journeys, but something we have in common is that we are all MOVING FORWARD, so that's the theme of this Scientiae edition.

How are you moving forward in life? Are you close to your degree, tenure, sabbatical, or summer holiday? Is that paper almost ready to go out the door? Is your baby almost potty trained or are you training for a marathon? What keeps you moving forward in your science, work, and life? Is it the drive to cure a disease, make the world a more sustainable piece, or discover something that no one else knows? Is it the promise of exciting data at the end of a long assay? Is it the thought of people calling you Dr.? Is it your daughter's smile when she wakes up in the morning, or the enthusiastic tail wagging of your dog? When things get tough, how do you motivate yourself to move forward?

Here's a couple of sayings and cliches that might help inspire the creative juices:

• "It's always darkest, just before they turn on the light." (Cole Porter, Anything Goes)
• "When life hands you lemons, turn them into lemonade." (an old saying)
• "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." (Alternatively, the sign in my local donut shop proclaimed "When the going gets tough, the tough get donuts.")
• "Life is just a bowl of cherries." (A saying meaning that life is pleasant, but often used sarcastically to convey the opposite sense).

Now that you're all inspired(?), don't forget to write your entries and get them in by midnight UTC on May 30th, and I'll get them compiled and posted the first week of June. Please email a permalink to your submission to scientiaecarnival [a] gmail [dt] com. If you don't have a blog, email your submission to the address above, and I'll happily post your entry here. More details concerning submission can be found here. Also, please broadcast this announcement on your blogs and share widely. I'm looking forward to reading a great batch of posts.