Several Memes...
Firstly the decade according to davegodfrey
2000 3rd/4th year of University. Escaped a frankly appalling privately owned halls of residence, and moved in with some people I met there.
2001 Final year of uni. Left with a degree in Palaeobiology, scraping a 2:1. Started volunteering at the NHM (in Botany) and working for Jessops.I still remember the dreams I had. Retai for a year or so then a PhD. Then the career I dreamed of.
2002 First job at the NHM, a six month contract photographing echinoids, moved over to the Palaeontology department to volunteer there, with the microfossils. The joys of a 7 day week and living in Dartford while everyone I know lived in London was not much fun. I think it was about then that I gave up on the idea of a PhD and a career in research. 3 years in a project that you aren't sure why you're doing in the first place seems a mistake.
2003 In May I moved in with some of the Uni crowd. Walthamstow is a nice place to live, although I'm not a fan of changing night buses. Transferred to a Jessops in London. Started the MSc in Museum Studies. Aha! I shall become a curator, do a little research on the side, and do valuable work caring for collections for scientists who come after me.
2004 Still living with Fluff. Still doing the MSc. Still volunteering. Still enjoying it.
2005 Back to the parents and horrific commuting for six months. Finished the Masters however! Did much better than in the undergrad degree too. I think it was around this point that I started becoming heartily sick of retail. I did however move into my current place at the end of the year, which was nice.
2006 Jessops. Museum. Unsurprisingly few jobs around. Definitely getting into a rut here.
2007 Carving the rut deeper. Curation is probably harder to get into than research. Maybe I should have done the PhD and then the MSc?
2008 Walked out of Jessops. Then three months later the economy collapsed, showing my impeccable timing. Of course because the economy collapses the (already tiny market) for natural science curators dries up completely. Which is nice.
2009 Started on the Learning Volunteer Programme, after hearing about how much fun it is from the innerbrat. At the same time I got a job at the NHM. Its not exactly where I want to be, but its the best paid job I've ever had, its permanent, and if I want to get into the education side of museum work I'm probably in a better place than I was before. However I said that about research vs. curation too.
And now a letter to my 16 year old self.
Dear David.
I doubt this letter will reach you. Several people are sending them out, and some of the one I've read don't want to change things. I'm not one of those people. Stuff that. There are several things that I wish were different. I therefore have a couple of words of advice that while they probably won't change anything might at least make the next 14 years rather more enjoyable.
1. If someone offers to set out a project for your masters dissertation its probably a good idea to take them up on it. And check the spelling of the thing you're writing about. Word won't know it, and you'll spend so long looking at it you'll see the spelling you think should be there. It won't make any difference in the long run, but still annoys me now.
2. I have no advice to give about jobs, other than to keep plugging away at it. Your priorities will probably change, but keep hoping. You are at least going in the right direction even if you might take longer than you want to get there.
3. If you meet the same people as me when you fall in love it will not work out. At. All. Ever. In fact just give up on the whole bloody thing right now. Everyone will be much better off. I'd like to be able to say "don't worry you'll meet someone" but I haven't so far, there's no sign of that changing, and phrases like "plenty more fish in the sea" only serve to annoy when you're still dreaming of "the one that got away" as it were.
4. However when someone does come on to you it might not be a bad idea to take them up on it rather than buggering off. You never know when the opportunity might next come up.
5. Remember you have friends and they're all lovely. Even if you don't think you deserve them.
6. Go to Ladbrokes and bet £10 that there'll be a black man in the White house by 2010.
Dave.
Well that was thoroughly depressing. Happy Christmas. I hope those of you celebrating the solstice had a good time. All the best for the New Year.
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2000 3rd/4th year of University. Escaped a frankly appalling privately owned halls of residence, and moved in with some people I met there.
2001 Final year of uni. Left with a degree in Palaeobiology, scraping a 2:1. Started volunteering at the NHM (in Botany) and working for Jessops.I still remember the dreams I had. Retai for a year or so then a PhD. Then the career I dreamed of.
2002 First job at the NHM, a six month contract photographing echinoids, moved over to the Palaeontology department to volunteer there, with the microfossils. The joys of a 7 day week and living in Dartford while everyone I know lived in London was not much fun. I think it was about then that I gave up on the idea of a PhD and a career in research. 3 years in a project that you aren't sure why you're doing in the first place seems a mistake.
2003 In May I moved in with some of the Uni crowd. Walthamstow is a nice place to live, although I'm not a fan of changing night buses. Transferred to a Jessops in London. Started the MSc in Museum Studies. Aha! I shall become a curator, do a little research on the side, and do valuable work caring for collections for scientists who come after me.
2004 Still living with Fluff. Still doing the MSc. Still volunteering. Still enjoying it.
2005 Back to the parents and horrific commuting for six months. Finished the Masters however! Did much better than in the undergrad degree too. I think it was around this point that I started becoming heartily sick of retail. I did however move into my current place at the end of the year, which was nice.
2006 Jessops. Museum. Unsurprisingly few jobs around. Definitely getting into a rut here.
2007 Carving the rut deeper. Curation is probably harder to get into than research. Maybe I should have done the PhD and then the MSc?
2008 Walked out of Jessops. Then three months later the economy collapsed, showing my impeccable timing. Of course because the economy collapses the (already tiny market) for natural science curators dries up completely. Which is nice.
2009 Started on the Learning Volunteer Programme, after hearing about how much fun it is from the innerbrat. At the same time I got a job at the NHM. Its not exactly where I want to be, but its the best paid job I've ever had, its permanent, and if I want to get into the education side of museum work I'm probably in a better place than I was before. However I said that about research vs. curation too.
And now a letter to my 16 year old self.
Dear David.
I doubt this letter will reach you. Several people are sending them out, and some of the one I've read don't want to change things. I'm not one of those people. Stuff that. There are several things that I wish were different. I therefore have a couple of words of advice that while they probably won't change anything might at least make the next 14 years rather more enjoyable.
1. If someone offers to set out a project for your masters dissertation its probably a good idea to take them up on it. And check the spelling of the thing you're writing about. Word won't know it, and you'll spend so long looking at it you'll see the spelling you think should be there. It won't make any difference in the long run, but still annoys me now.
2. I have no advice to give about jobs, other than to keep plugging away at it. Your priorities will probably change, but keep hoping. You are at least going in the right direction even if you might take longer than you want to get there.
3. If you meet the same people as me when you fall in love it will not work out. At. All. Ever. In fact just give up on the whole bloody thing right now. Everyone will be much better off. I'd like to be able to say "don't worry you'll meet someone" but I haven't so far, there's no sign of that changing, and phrases like "plenty more fish in the sea" only serve to annoy when you're still dreaming of "the one that got away" as it were.
4. However when someone does come on to you it might not be a bad idea to take them up on it rather than buggering off. You never know when the opportunity might next come up.
5. Remember you have friends and they're all lovely. Even if you don't think you deserve them.
6. Go to Ladbrokes and bet £10 that there'll be a black man in the White house by 2010.
Dave.
Well that was thoroughly depressing. Happy Christmas. I hope those of you celebrating the solstice had a good time. All the best for the New Year.
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