the torch

So, even though I already secured a postdoctoral position, defended my thesis, and took three weeks off for my wedding and honeymoon, I am back working in the Schepartz lab.  It’s not for too much longer – only til the end of this month – but as part of Alanna’s agreement to let me defend was that I’d stay on for the majority of the summer to help pass my along knowledge and skills to the next generation of grad students and postdocs in her lab.  And so I have been; this week, for example, in addition to wrapping up the last few of my own experiments, I’ve given Kevin, Jake, and Justin pointers on HPLC, fluorescence spectroscopy, and analytical ultracentrifugation, and I’ve been helping John and Mike with AU, as well.  In fact, learning to operate the AU has become such a priority for enough of my labmates that I actually typed up a very detailed 6-page protocol so that my "expertise" does not get lost when I leave.  I don’t mind this period of mentoring and torch-passing at all.  While I am excited to start anew in the Rothman lab, I’m a little anxious, as well, and it’s comforting to have a last hurrah in my old stomping grounds where I can feel useful and important.  I might as well enjoy it while it lasts, because they say that starting a postdoc in a new lab can be a very humbling experience because you go from being the resident expert, knowing the lay of the land, how to do every technique, and where everything is stored to being the new kid in class: naive, needy, and inefficient.