PIP, PIP, Hooray!

I may or may not have mentioned that things have been a bit crazy around here lately. I believe that I did mention that I submitted a fellowship appliction (to the Project for Interdisciplinary Pedagogy, or PIP) at the end of January, which was responsible for at least a couple of weeks' worth of craziness. Well, somewhere in all the hubbub of the past 2 weeks I forgot to mention that I got an interview for said fellowship. It's somewhat remarkable that I forgot to mention it, as it had me bouncing around lab for at least a day trying not to do a happy dance and break the serious scientist demeanor that must be upheld at all times in lab (this would be very funny if you'd ever been to our lab...there's not much serious scientist to be seen...I could probably have danced around all over the place and not gotten much more than an odd look).

Anyway. I had an interview for the fellowship on the 20th. It went well. The committee was very nice (I didn't know it was a committee until I walked in the door...I was surprised to be given the full attention of three professors). And, this morning, I had an acceptance form in my email! Yay!

This is a teaching fellowship that will allow me to design and implement three classes for undergraduates at UW Bothell next year. It's going to be a less than fun commute, as Bothell is a good 40 min bus ride away, but I get to have three classes of my own! Yes, I know. This is not easy, it isn't always fun, and 6 months from now I am going to be questioning my sanity for signing up for something like this while I'm trying to write my thesis. But that's 6 months from now. Until then, I get to be giddy at the prospect, and revel in all the good things that it will do for my experience level and my resume (plus, of course, it's just fun to teach). So, until the hard work hits, I am celebrating! (Of course, I am also trying to get all the work done that I won't have time to do when I'm teaching...I'm nothing if not practical while being gleeful.)