So far, so good

Took the grand tour of the USDA research facility in Albany today, or at least the ground floor and basement and chatted it up with Dr. Ponciano and the head of her lab. She is amazing, by the way, Dr. Ponciano, or Grisel, as I know her now. She is the bundle of positive energy you want to work for no matter what it is specifically you'd be doing.

As luck would have it, I should be gearing up to get my volunteer on in her lab (or Bill Belknap's lab, to be precise) in January. I shall get my own specific project that I can work on till I'm carried off to grad school hopefully some time in 2011. And I'm feeling good about whatever might happen between now and then.

Bill Belknap's advice for posterity:
1. Go into science because you love it.
Science won't make you rich, and it won't get you the babes.

2. Don't rule out universities with small programs.
Even if it's not tier 1 famous, a lot of the smaller programs have good people. You are in it for the long term. You want to have a decent quality of life so you're not burnt out in five years.

3. Find an advisor who you can get along with.
It doesn't matter what the person is reasearching. Grad school should not be about shouting and tears.

4. Find a post-doc with someone - ideally in the National Academy - who will go to bat for you.
Working for a famous person who views you as competition for grant money will do nothing to further your career. Better to work for a decent human being who wants you to succeed. Shocking as it may sound, lots of famous scientists will make a proactive effort to destroy your career so that they won't need to compete with you for grants. Do not work for these people.