It was one of the Twins who suggested I go for the biotechnology lab specialist program. The Twins aren’t actually twins, but more on that later. I went out to dinner with the girl twin one night last Fall. She knew I was taking biology, and asked me what an isotonic solution was, and was happy with my answer. She’s a lab manager at one of the many biotech companies in South Lake Union, and also a good lindy hopper. If you don’t know what lindy hop is, check out this clip from 1941’s iconic movie Hellzapoppin’.
She had done the program herself and it had been a game-changer for her. I had originally taken biology because I wanted to have a bit more background for grant proposals I was planning to write for an organization doing cancer research. I thought it was really just for fun, and I’d always liked the structure of classes and their defined deliverables.
I had spent years writing grant proposals for good causes, always on a volunteer basis, and was tired of what I call the NGO pink collar ghetto, aka expensively educated women working for not much money for programs that make the world a better place. Sort of like all the volunteering that goes on at schools – usually by moms with large skill sets doing stuff that would cost a lot if outsourced.
I looked into the biotech lab specialist program and was intrigued. I worked for years on projects based in Russia to support whistle blowers in their military-nuclear industrial complex. They were impressive people, mathematicians and physicists who were worried about the effects of plutonium production on the environment and public health. People who lost their jobs when they voiced their concerns, who sacrificed their livelihood and status for a principle. I felt that their work was the real front-line stuff, gathering and analyzing data, then publishing their findings.
As someone who had dropped out of math after 10th grade, that kind of work was out of my reach. I grew up in a family that discouraged a disciplined approach to learning. If it didn’t come easily, why bother? So I did the stuff that came without too much pain, and was too embarrassed to ask for help when I didn’t get concepts quickly. What a mistake.
It’s more Zen to say there are no mistakes, only learning experiences, but I have regrets. I’ve since realized that time and effort can make up for a good chunk of perceived intellectual shortcomings. One of the things I’ve tried to impart to my sons is that no matter how good you are at something, you are going to hit a conceptual wall, and you better have the resources to deal with it. No matter how good you are at something, someone else will be better at it. Is that going to stop you from pursuing something you are curious about or that makes you feel alive? Of course not.
My first o chem quiz was last Friday and I did fine. I told Patrick and he said “Failing less as time goes on.” Not high praise, but I’ll take it.
Successive Approximation 