This afternoon, I’m making edits to a piece I’m working on for Tone Madison (check it out!! tonemadison.com). This will be a ‘big girl’ piece, meaning it is not an op ed. It was a pitch that was accepted!! And for which I will receive some compensation. Op eds sort of get published no matter what in my experience. But not always IN the physical newspaper, if I do want to brag. I’ve had two printed Op Eds.
Anyway, I wanted to thank the readers of this newsletter because without y’all I would not have the practice nor the guts to write this piece for Tone. It will be my most daring work yet. I’m calling out scientists for refusing to organize together, and I give specific examples of retaliation. Am I worried this will provoke more retaliation? Yes. But does this piece protect me in some ways by calling out what is actually going on, also yes.
Do I think it is fair that what I do outside of work affects my career or theoretically could affect my career? Of course not. But that is where we are. I could play video games for five hours a day and experience no comments questioning my belonging in my field. But if I organize for one hour a day, it’s too much.
Unfortunately, the only way out is through. It won’t change unless you push it. The more I can do and be OK, the more the next person can.
My PhD is in its final era, or so I hope. My defense date is set for July 25. I’m looking for jobs (hope to write about this process) and enjoying the time I have left as much as I can. My term as union president ends June 1. I have a lot of feelings.
I am so grateful to have been a grad student at UW-Madison. I am so grateful for my PhD, and all of my friends. I have recently reconnected with my church in this uncertain time, and for that I am grateful. I went to mass and the protest encampment near Library mall; I saw God in both places. I am grateful for my weekend, where I went out in the sun and bought flowers and reconnected with a friend.
On Sunday, I met my aunts, went to a birthday party, went to a defense party. Could I ever live anywhere else? This morning, I submitted an application for a public health fellowship, hoping to stay in Wisconsin.
I don’t know what will happen to me, but I am proud of myself.
more rally photos. pc: henry brown
