The first full week of January is traditionally International Blog Delurking Week.
Readers old and new, please delurk (even if you’re not actually lurking) and say hi, tell us something about yourself, how you found the blog, and/or how you’re doing in these strange times.
Don’t be shy!
xykademiqz 
Hello X,
I came across the blog in Summer 2019 when Googling how to deal with and improve graduate student writing. I found exactly what I needed and have been lurking ever since 🙂
Hi! I am a PhD student in molecular bio but hoping to wrap up in the next year or so. I found this blog a few years ago when I did a broad search of academic blogs to follow with the hopes of gleaning any sort of guidance I can for this strange world of academia. I was at a pretty low point in my grad school struggles then. I have found both useful information here and also really look forward to the entertainment value of some of the tweets your share in your link round ups. I’ve been doing alright during these strange times (both the pandemic and grad school in general) but each day I’m feeling better as we near towards what is hopefully the finish line.
Hi! Been reading for years but rarely comment. Started reading at some point during my PhD, and find that you & I seem to have a lot in common personality-wise. I do bio-medical research, but realized while getting my degree that I really prefer working on other people’s projects rather than my own. So now I basically manage the lab I grew up in, and get to solve all the really interesting technical problems, but leave the grant writing to someone else. We’ll see how long I can make this particular gig work…
I’m totally in awe of all the stuff you manage to get done 🙂
I am the founder and CEO of a small medical device company (moved from academic few years ago to start the company and since then successfully raised multi-million dollars of non-dilutive funds). I started reading many years ago when I was still in academia and not sure why but continue to lurk. Most of the days,I open the academic jungle page when I need a small breaks between intense work and follow few links from there. We have been extremely busy during the pandemic since one of our project needed to meet the milestones in order to get paid.
I do not remember how I found this blog…or when… I’m a 3rd-year assistant professor in STEM at an R2, so lots of useful stuff on this blog
Hey there,
I am random grad student working in condensed matter physics(theory).
I kinda found my way here through the blog roll of another physics blog. Then reading through so many posts talking about the PI’s side of grad student problems, I found XYK to be a very reasonable person/Prof and changed some of my perspectives about academia.
Take home lesson for me: As a Grad student, one needs a bit of self-reflection: Can you do, what you want to do?(Being an independent researcher) I also realized that no one is ready to do this when they start their PhD it takes some effort and a lot more of responsibility to keep consistently working towards goals.
So, xyk thanks for writing/ranting about grad students 😉
I’ve been reading for probably 10 years now–started reading the final year or two of my PhD back at Academic Jungle. I came here from FSP and found a number of other great blogs from here that I also read regularly now. I enjoy all the science stuff and reflections on advising and working with students/other people. I also enjoy reading about some of the immigrant issues/topics. Thanks for writing!
I’m a lawyer from New Zealand, with an interest in science and academia. I’ve been reading for awhile but don’t usually comment as don’t feel I have much to add. I can’t remember how I found your blog but I stayed for your refreshing and honest perspective on work and life! Thanks for writing!
Hi!
I’ve been reading for a while and occasionally comment. I went to New Zealand for a sabbatical on January 1, 2020, and have not been in a rush to return to Canada. Fortunately from that point of view all teaching at my institution is online in Winter term. I have some trepidation about actually doing emergency remote teaching. There is the occasional survivor guilt about friends and colleagues back home but being here in NZ has been excellent.
Like Industry Physicist I probably got here through FSP.
Hi!
I’m a long time reader from the times when xyz blogged somewhere else. I think I might have been reading since 2010 when as a young postdoc I was pondering whether to leave my physics career.
I found lots of useful advice from this and other blogs.
I eventually left academia and moved to data science, like many other math and physics grads. But I truly enjoy reading here and getting a unique insight into the life of a tenured professor. Keep it up!!!
Hello!
I’m a professor of statistics and research methods from Texas. I think I found your blog through Bardiac’s blog roll many years ago and have been lurking here since. I enjoy reading about how other faculty navigate academia, so your blog has been a good fit. I’m always happy to see a new post!
Hi! I have spent the entire last 11 months angry about everything, because this is a really bad time to be a biochemist (though I concede that everyone watching the flaming stupid is probably pretty angry). Cheers!
Hi X! Thank you for your comment on my blog the other day! I’m an MD pediatric anesthesiologist who also has a PhD in clinical epidemiology and I do health services research, working at a large state university in the Midwest. I’m also married to an Italian virologist who has a misanthropic streak and have an almost 9 yo daughter who is sooooo much more diplomatic than I am. I like reading about your perspectives on academia and adult female friendships, and can relate to a lot of what you write, even if my comments aren’t always well articulated. So glad I found this blog!
Also want to add, I found you years ago through N&M.
Hi, I am a long time lurker of your blog. I am a female tenured professor in a social science discipline, having moved to Hong Kong last year. Your perspectives in respect of relating to fellow academics and students as well as the difficulties of with getting funding and grant applications really resonate with me. I have enjoyed many of your posts and hope that you keep blogging.
I’m a recently tenured female professor in the physical sciences at a SLAC. I started reading through FSP, and enjoy seeing the extreme differences in our jobs despite being in closely related research fields. I use an RSS feed so I read every post but rarely comment.
I’ve been reading for a while, time to delurk! I’m an early-stages physics grad student. I came across FSP a couple of years ago and read her entire archives, and I found your blog through there. I appreciate the professor’s-eye view, the advice, the musings about the process of research (from both the scientific and people-related angles), and your writings about your non-science creative interests. I’ve also discovered that I just like reading blogs, and I wish I knew of more by women in the physical sciences.
How am I doing? On the positive side, I’m the sort of person who needs a lot of solitude and quiet to stay sane and I am consistently getting enough right now. On the stressful side, 1) working from home is definitely exacerbating my natural tendencies to disorganization (I swear I try but it seems to be an inherent, persistent struggle for me) and 2) I joined my present group right before everything went sideways and the separation/distance from people and facilities has really increased the challenge of getting up and running with a new research topic.
I enjoy your blog a lot, thank you!
I’ve been reading so long I have no idea how I first came across your blog. I’m in a very different area, but greatly enjoy your insights into the scientific side of academe, and finding what we all have in common.
I’ve been reading (mainly through an RSS feed) since the days of Academic Jungle, so it has been long enough ago that I don’t remember how I found your blog. I read all the comments also, as I find your commenters mostly worth reading—I even comment myself sometimes, though I don’t contribute much new to the discussions.
Been reading (and small-time commenting) for some years. Got here via a link in a post at gasstationwithoutpumps. Used to climb the academic ranks, now climbing the corporate ones with less recognition but more remuneration. Still have strong feelings about teaching and workplace dynamics so everything stated here still feels relevant.
Been reading since academic jungle days when I was in undergrad. Currently a government lab tech. I deeply enjoy your blog and your views in life – I feel like it helps me claim parts of who I am, my ambition, and how I work.
I’ve been reading your blog since I entered grad school in 2009. So I have to out myself as a long time lurker. I have to admit that I cannot remember how I originally found you. I left academia for industry in 2019, but my current job is actually related to my degree in physics!