Scientific reunions

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I can feel the tiredness accumulating from the last few days, but it has not prevented me from enjoying the first day of the conference in Konstanz. It has been great to meet again so many people, including old collaborators and colleagues. 

I find socializing very hard when I am tired (probably because I get grumpy and it is hard for me to focus). I see that some people get energy by socializing with others. In my case, sometimes it is the contrary, even if I enjoy the interaction very much. It used to be much worse when I was shy: it would eat out all my energy.

But today it has not taken me any energy. I think I was very conscious that I have very few occasions to see these people and I better make the most of it.

It is funny how, despite that I do not see some of these colleagues so frequently, I follow their careers over the years and see how they grow from PhD student to post-doc to post-doc to tenured or they decide to leave academia. It is like seeing snapshots from others people's lives, but still feeling close enough to them to celebrate each of their victories.





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