Forward

After a lifetime of dreaming about being an astronomy professor and researcher I had finally made it. A real tenure track job at a real University. I was so ecstatic and proud! I decided that I would keep a journal of my experiences in hopes that maybe someday I could turn it into a book to help others wanting to follow my footsteps. Considering how things turned out, no one will be following my advice on an academic career, yet I am often asked when my book is coming out anyways. So, I have struggled with what to do with this journal for quite a while. I have decided to publish this mostly as I wrote it, with only a few edits here and there as a record of my perspective on these events as they happened. Like we all do when looking back at frozen time capsules of our past-selves I feel a variety of emotions about who I was and what I did and did not think about, or say, or do. I have no regrets about where I am today! So, while I am well aware that none of you will be reading this for advice on the academic ladder as I once dreamed, and that some of you will be reading it for the schadenfreude, I take solace in the words of Peter. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Indeed, none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or wrongdoer, or even as a meddler. But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear that name.

Jane