Ambivalence: 362 vs. 3

This weekend I went to the largest conference in my field, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's the second time I attend and present at this conference, and every time I attend, I come back more confused than ever.

Here's the source of my confusion. When I am here doing my daily work -- studying, doing research, and teaching -- I realize that I don't want to be an academic. Teaching takes too much time, research is slow and often unrewarding, and people are smart, but extremely competitive. But whenever I go to this conference, I realize that academia may be the right place for me. Talking to others about research, I always fall in love over and over with social psychology - I think this field asks just the right questions, not too broad, but not too reductionistic either. I get to see my crushes (see here and here ), and my friend Megan. I also get to see famous social psychologists, my own celebs. I just love it.

So this is the source of my confusion. I know I need to get a job that I like most days, not only 3 days a year. On the other hand, I don't know what other job would give me the enthusiam that I get from doing and hearing about basic research.

I will leave you with a picture of my roomates Megan and Kristina, taken at the final party of the conference. I never thought I would say this, but social psychologists know how to party.