At the moment, I am considering being a biologist, specifically a molecular biologist, though that might change.
Do you already have the skills and experience to get a position as a molecular biologist? Or are you considering attempting to gain those skills?
I see a lot of thinking and weighing and optimizing going on. I'm reminded of Frost and The Road Not Taken.
We look down paths, and do a lot of thinking, and a lot of it is just blind hemming and hawing, full of rationalizations. Instead of getting all wound up trying to make the absolute best decision, just look at your options, evaluate them, and pick the one that looks the best. Realize that you likely won't pick the optimal choice. So what? I bet most of the options are good.
On not knowing about moving protocol, you'll figure it out. Don't strain any neurons fretting over it today.
My advice is to weigh happiness in the near term (1-5 years) higher than happiness tomorrow, because you have a better idea of what you want today than what you will want tomorrow.
On the particulars of molecular biology careers, this is probably not the best forum to ask. Ask molecular biologists.
For a LW community, do we have population density maps for LW members? I wouldn't really go much by that anyway, There are plenty of communities you might find interest in.
For education, you don't seem to have kids yet, and the education world may be an entirely different place by the time you do. It is already an entirely different world, for kids whose parents don't ship them off to the usual education conveyor belts. For anyone with a kid today, I'd encourage them to get an account at Khan Academy. Start taking charge of his education in a measurable format, instead of tossing him into the best education meat grinder you can find.
Thinking about it makes it seem stressful, so the more information I have, the better I can plan, and the less stressful this will eventually be for me.
When I was younger, I would have said much the same. I hate logistics too, and tend to stress myself out over them, mainly by trying to over optimize too many variables.
I've discovered, however, that life isn't so hard, and fretting over all possible scenarios and trying to optimize every last thing is more trouble than it's worth. You'll figure it out when the time comes. And most logistics problems will magically disappear if you throw a little money at them. The main thing is to leave yourself adequate time buffers, because missing deadlines is the best way to make life difficult.
Hi!
I have been wondering (the last few days) on where would be a good place to live and work. This is not a "I-am-moving-out-in-two-months" type of idea, but a long term, far goal. Basically, when I graduate college (or even a couple years after that- I need to save up money, first!) I may want to move away from my hometown to someplace that is a bit more... *forward* thinking. I've been doing searches on google, but so far have not found what I need.
What am I looking for:
At the moment, I am considering being a biologist, specifically a molecular biologist, though that might change. For this post, I am going to assume I keep this goal. Are there any place in the US that have a market or need for biologists? Is there a science-centric, or place where science-minded people live? I know that is vague, but I'm not sure how else to put it. I just recognize that if I were to have a discussion about science or cogsci or anything similar in my current community, I would get strange looks, and lose status.
If such a place exists, a bonus would be an active LW community.
I'm not sure if I will or won't like moving, so moving multiple times is something I am not really considering at the moment, and since I do eventually (far far down the road) plan on having children, and those children would require a really *really* good education, I would want someplace that has a good education system. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, since my educational experience was so awful, so I am dedicated to making sure that does *not* happen to my (far far in the future) family. (Yes, I do know that a lot of educational issues stem from a whole combination of things, and I know a good school system is not a fix-all, but it would help.)
I've never moved before, so I wouldn't even know where to begin. My family doesn't even go on vacations. I've never been on a plane, nor do I know any protocol for moving between states, or moving in general. The most moving I've ever experienced was the move to college, and that is only 20 minutes from home. Thinking about it makes it seem stressful, so the more information I have, the better I can plan, and the less stressful this will eventually be for me.
Thanks for the help!