It gives some of my insights, which I hope are helpful to students, postdoctoral fellows, and established scientists alike. I welcome any questions or feedback that may arise. The Academic Life Live a long, scholarly life and enjoy it. Graduate students are impressionable as they experience the stress of information overload from course work and the impressions of professorship, lectureship, and academic administrators. Graduate students must compete constantly against each other, professional students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and even the occasional secretary.
Every graduate student becomes disillusioned from time to time.
Do your best to remain focused on your scientific challenges and, above all, make it fun. While in graduate school, I was not trained to market myself. I thought that postdoctoral fellowship offers would come from friends of my mentor or other faculty. Students should be more aggressive and assertive, marketing themselves and envisioning the next five or ten years. Set a timeline for completion of your degree and look into the future.