Thread by @AnaMaPorras

Today is my last Friday before I become #faculty 🤯 and I wanted to take a second to reflect a little on my #postdoc experience. Spoiler alert: yes I grew a lot and met amazing people but no, postdocing wasn’t fun and I wouldn’t want to do that again. #PostdocLife 1/n

First the good - I learned and grew a lot during my postdoc and thanks to that, my career has shifted in exciting new directions. It also taught me not to be scared to try something new! Remember: PhD grads are really good at learning new stuff. #PostdocLife 2/n

What I learned cost me a lot though… being a #postdoc is by definition full of uncertainty and pressure: you don’t know where you’ll be living in 1-2yrs, funding insecurity for some, pressure to do great so you can land your next job, etc… #PostdocLife 3/n

The pressures of my #postdoc led me to experience periods of paralyzing #anxiety. Found an amazing Latina therapist (from my institution’s staff assistance program❤️) who helped me take care of my #MentalHealth but I’m not totally out of the weeds yet. 4/n

It doesn’t help that postdocs are lost in university structures - neither regular staff nor students. Often lost in the shuffle when policies are created (*this was really bad during COVID). #PostdocLife 5/n

On COVID… talk about feeling even more disconnected from the university/peers AND not being able to fully do the job. I had it better bc I wasn’t brand new and I thankfully already had a job lined up. But y’all, your #postdocs are not ok! 6/n

Funding - I am SO thankful that 1.5 years in, I became a @CornellFellows. My salary increased to $68k. That dramatically affected my quality of life. I was able to pay all debts in <1yr and it set me up well for this transition. We need to figure out how to do more of that! 7/n

In my field, #BME, the norm is to do one postdoc at one location and that was my case. I have friends who “need” to do 2-3 postdocs or 5+ years. I really wouldn’t have the emotional or mental energy for even 1 more year as a #postdoc! I feel for them 😓 7/n

Oh, almost forgot - I don’t particularly enjoy being in the lab doing the experiments. Which brings me to - I did a #postdoc because we have to these days to get a #Faculty job. I learned a lot but it’s not a job I would have voluntarily signed up for outside of that. 8/n

Ok so how did I deal with all that? First and foremost, a therapist! Nothing else would have worked if I hadn’t had mine in my corner helping me separate my own thoughts from reality, what I could control from crappy circumstances. #MentalHealth 8/n

You also need lots of #mentors! Find people inside and outside your institution who can help guide you, provide feedback, and sometimes just cheer you on! If you’re in BME and don’t know where to start with that, please reach out. SO many people in our community can help! 9/n

And yes, you need senior mentors but you also need peer or near-peer #postdoc mentors! These people will be your sanity checks and your go-tos for venting/laughing. Thanks @MelanieSmee, @jajaimeso, @clairemeaders, @papacailp, @MorrisBioEng, and @BrianAguado ❤️ 10/n

I also leveraged my fellowship and the lack of tons of responsibility (compared to #faculty) to explore something I always wanted to do: #SciComm. And wow did that pay off!! From #MicroMartes to @CdeC_Col and @IfThenSheCan. That part was a BLAST! 11/n

If you are a member of a historically underrepresented group, you’re also going to need to find support specific to YOU. At Cornell, I had help from @CornellOISE and @Sarahdez76. Beyond that, @InclusiveSci and of course I relied heavily on @LatinXinBME! 12/n

Finally, I never needed friends more than during the last 4 years and I was SO lucky to have friends that were more like family. It was really hard to leave them physically behind and I am so grateful to have them in my life! ❤️🇨🇴 13/n

Overall, I have lots of good and bad memories from my #postdoc. The good outweighs the bad. I do think I’ll be a better mentor and teacher now bc of that experience. I bring with me the lessons learned and most of all the relationships built to my role as #NewPI! 😬😆