Finally finding my groove...

After a very intense mentoring committee meeting, where many flaws were exposed, I am now hitting my stride and addressing issues. Finding mentors through Facebook (hey c'mon, it IS a networking site, after all), finding my niche within the published research, and generally feeling good.

I only wish I didn't have to run away from the office to accomplish so much.... But it needed to be done. I was stressing out about not getting anything done, even as I was pulled in a thousand different directions. As an aside, I hate working in a cube farm - it's WAY to easy for people to interrupt your train of thought....

Making learning fun

Found one of my teaching points for tomorrow. Who says you can't have fun in the lab?

Mentoring for neuroscience

OK. I'm gonna out myself just a little bit and ask a very specific question:

What resources are available for extramural neuroscience mentoring? It appears that SfN has a good system in place, but I was somewhat leery of jumping in and paying for my membership.

I should also mention that I'm the kinda person who uses committee service to network and get the lay of the land. What can I say - I like to be involved.

What are people's opinion on the various mentoring programs available, either through SfN or other sources? What resources are available? While I'm new to the field and still very green, I have a ton of experience that I think will translate (I'm avoiding specifics as to not identify myself TOO much)....

Throwing out a lifeline....

Awhile back I alluded to the fact I'm in a new field. I knew it would be a difficult transition, but it is proving FAR more difficult than I ever imagined. I thought I'd been treading water, but in the past few weeks, I've started to drown. I know the basis of what I want to do, but my knowledge of the basic science is not up to par....

So, with much humility, I ask..... What is the best approach to learning a new field? I've tried hitting the literature and that's helped a bit, but I still am way out of my element, especially when it comes to specifics. Also, I want to go to a meeting to network with in my new field, but at a loss as to where to go. The big society meetings seem to only be helpful after you've established contacts (which I have not), but there seems  to be a lack of sub-specialty meetings (Gordon/Keystone/Cold Spring Harbor) in my field. Are there any alternatives where I can learn and establish myself simultaneously?

My current mood

Well, this about sums it up....