sandi

Sometimes I don't even know what I do.

I've been out of skydiving for several years now and it will likely be a few more before I start again. I haven't been willing to give up my weekend time with my daughter. But at some point she won't want to hang out with her mommy anymore. That will probably be when I'm ready to start jumping again. I've hung on to most of my gear but maybe I should just sell it and buy more when I start jumping again. Those of you who have had long layoffs from skydiving and have returned later, did you keep your gear or sell?

I aspire to be a skydiving bum. Although I did try that for about a year and had to go back to real life once I ran out of money. In real life I'm a Developmental Cognitive Neuroscientist. What the heck is that, you ask? I do research in brain development. I also teach research methods to undergrads. Degrees: BS (public administration) BS (biology and psychology) MSEd (learning & developmental sciences) PhD (cognitive neuroscience & developmental psych).

There's probably many reasons for that.... Some schools do nothing but prepare for the test all year. They will skip any important fundamentals that kids need, if it's not on the test. Many schools cheat on this test. This cheating is encouraged by some administrators. Sure, they can fire you for that. But they can also fire you if your test scores are not high enough. Sometimes this cheating is not easily detected. It could be that these schools have a higher percentage of normal kids. This is a huge deciding factor in how well they learn. Kids who are well adjusted absorb knowledge like a sponge. It's easy to teach kids like that. On the contrary many troubled kids can not even concentrate in school. Many, many, of these kids have huge anger problems. They are disrupting the school environment. It's obvious that this news article is sleezy journalism. After all sensationalism sells more news papers. The media is trying to paint a picture of lazy, fat, worthless, teachers who are greedy as hell. If they can get people wound up and thinking emotionally, this will sell even more newspapers. Don't be so easily manipulated by the media! Also, keep in mind that those college prep high schools in Chicago are "selective enrollment" - the kids are tested to get in. It's not hard to get high test scores when you only take the smart kids. It is very different teaching classes of smart kids who are planning on going to college as opposed to a typical neighborhood Chicago school with a full range of abilities (or lack of abilities). .

Rehmwa, I didn't mean to insult you I see that you do understand that school aged girls can be mean. So you understand that laughing it off isn't always that easy. When my daughter came home upset that other girls were mean to her because she's better at math than the rest of her class that obviously afftects me. I want my daughter to have every opportunity to do what she likes and what she is good at. I don't want to see her veer away from math when she enjoys it so much. And certainly we sat down and had a long conversation after that happened. Obviously you don't know me, but I am very against government being involved in parenting (aside from abuse or neglect). Parents can parent the way they choose to. I would also be against quotas making it easier for anyone to get into any program based on gender or anything else. The most qualifiled applicants should get in. As a woman I would be insulted if I thought standards were lowered just to fill spots with women. There are plenty of intelligent women out there - there is no need to dumb things down for us. I think there should be more community outreach programs from math/science/engineering targeted at elementary aged children. I think I do my part. I have presented at women in science conferences and at outreach programs. We have a women in science program that has girls come to the department for an afternoon and meet women scientists and see what we do first hand. I think that exposure is important. But I think there should be more of that, not only geared toward girls but boys as well. Why not show kids that there are all these wonderful opportunities for their future careers regardless of gender.

The point is that the attitude that math is for boys is still here in our society. You've been saying that there isn't a problem. And if you think little girls are not influenced by what other girls say to them you know nothing about children. I'm saying that although the problem may not be as bad as it was 20 years ago, it isn't gone.

I’m not replying to anyone in particular. I just want to share my thoughts. I am a scientist and a mom of an 8-year-old girl. From what I’ve seen the stereotypes regarding math and science are still here. I agree with GeorgiaDon that targeting the young age groups is the best place to change it. I’ll share a personal example. My daughter loves math, she scored in the 98th percentile in math on the standardized tests in school. So for her age she is exceptionally good at math. Her teacher this year gave her higher level math to do than the rest of the class in order for her to be challenged. This is all great, right. Then one day she comes home from school and says that math is for boys and she is not supposed to be good at math. I was absolutely floored. How is it that in 2012 and a little girl can come home feeling bad about herself because she is good in math? I wanted to strangle whoever said that to her. So sure, this is just one example. But I’m sure it goes on everywhere, I just didn’t expect it this young. The stereotype is still prevalent in our society. The older generation still influences the younger ones. My daughter being told that math is for boys didn’t come from the teacher, it came from other kids who most likely were told that by their parents. I think we need to try and change the mind set early. We need to get rid of the stereotype in elementary school so that by the time kids start middle school they know that math and science are for anyone who is interested in math and science regardless of gender.

Tomorrow is my final college graduation! After years of working on research more hours a week than I care to think about, I get to put on my fancy cap and gown and get a Ph.D. Now I'll have more time to do things like post on DZ.com. I may even be able to start skydiving again.

I pick Jean-Luc. He's so much hotter than Kirk.

I'm in the midwest so no powder here. No mountains either, just some small hills. Have to work with what I've got and take vacations to places with mountains. I'm intrigued by the snow blades. Seems like it would be harder, maybe less stable? What is the transition like going from long skis to blades? Here's a pic of my new skis and boots! This will be the first time I have boots that actually fit. They don't make women's boots in my size, had to get junior race boots. Still have to get the bindings mounted on my skis but I'll be skiing this weekend! I can't wait!

I'm a skier, but I tried snowboarding once at the end of last season. It seemed to have potential to be fun so I'm looking forward to learning more. I bought new skis over the summer and I can't wait to ski them!! I've been counting down the days until I get to ski again. Since I don't skydive anymore I live for winter. I really need to move someplace that has actual mountains and a real winter.

I meet all the requirements except for height. Apparently I'm two inches too short to be an astronaut.

I love winter! Skiing and ice skating! I can't wait for snow, I already have my season ski pass and new skis. You have to go out and play in the snow if you want to enjoy the winter.

So true!

Time and money. But what I got is so much more. Kids definitely change your life - they make it better. I gave up skydiving- more about the risk than the money. I know lots of parents still skydive, but as a single parent, I'm all my daughter has. They sky will still be there once she's older. I've replaced it with skiing and that's something we do together. My fun time of year has shifted to winter. Kids are expensive, competitive gymnastics is sucking up a lot of my money now. Of course, that's a choice that I make to let her do it. Time is probably the biggest thing for me. Balancing my time between research/teaching/writing dissertation and being mommy is my biggest challenge. I absolutely love being a parent. I may have given up some things, but they don't seem important. What I have now is just so much better.

Most of my jumps have been on a Sabre 1, 150, 135, and 120. I always rolled the nose and I don't remember many bad openings, maybe 1 or 2. I loved my 135, then didn't like my 120 at first, but it turned out it was seriously out of trim and the brake lines were too short. Once I got a new line set it was great. I still have it but I'm not currently jumping. When I start jumping again I would certainly be willing to jump a sabre. Although I will probably get another Safire 2 if I can find one I can afford.

Actually both jobs are for after I graduate in May. So I have to write my dissertation first. I'm in a great position to have job offers this early. And no, neither one is near NYC. I wish they were, I would love to live there. This decision is a little different in that these are both postdoctoral fellowships, so they are temporary. In my field I have to get a Ph.D. and then do a 2-3 year post-doc before I can get a permanent job. So I can't focus too much on location. I have to think about which one will get me where I want to be long-term. I really have to base it on the research that I'll be doing there. The "problem" is that both are fantastic opportunities that anyone in my field would jump at, so I'm having a hard time choosing.

I know, I know, it's a good problem to have, but it's still a dilemma. I can't decide which job to take. I'm not generally indecisive, but this is a big decision so I want to make sure I'm choosing the right path for me. Any tips for making big career decisions? At least once I accept an offer, I can focus on writing my dissertation and not have to worry about spending the next 8 months looking for a job.

Hey, I want one of those too. If I found an educated, emotionally stable, hot skydiving guy I might be inclined to start dating again.

I’ve chosen the not dating at all path. Does that make me super picky, or a pathetic loner?? I never really had much dating experience, I was with one person from age 20-35. Had a few brief rebound flings in the first year after ending such a long relationship but nothing that was meant to be serious or long term. I’ve been single and intentionally not dating for quite some time now. I like being single, for now anyway. I was never really on my own before. Being single has given me time to pursue my own goals and figure out what I want and who I am without someone else telling me what I should do or who I should be. I guess if and when I’m ready to date again I probably will be picky. Not so much about looks but about having shared interests and values. I’m also a mom so that changes things when thinking about dating. I can’t bring people in and out of my daughter’s life and I’m not sure how dating as a single mom works. So until I figure it out (or my daughter grows up) I’ll stay single and enjoy the great life that I have.

I'm all set up and ready to Skype. I did a couple trials with friends to make sure everything worked and adjust the settings. I'm ready for my interview tomorrow. It will mostly be me talking about the research I've done so far so I'm not too worried about it.

Congrats on it being final. Go out and do something fun to celebrate the next phase of your life!

Anyone had a job interview via skype? Someone wants to interview me and I've never even used skype so I don't even know how it works. I'm not sure that I even want this job so I'm not that excited about this interview.

Absolutely the right thing to do. With our first child we went to 4-5 different orthos for initial consults. We picked the one who's approach and judgement seemed the soundest to us and also used him for our next 3 kids. Although he sold his practice to a young new doctor, the great customer service and judgement continued with the new doctor. He picked his replacement well. We've recommended this ortho to several friends. I'm glad to hear you went to 4-5. I was starting to feel like I was crazy for wanting multiple opinions. The approach recommended by this first one seems overly aggressive and possibly not even necessary since we are still looking at mostly baby teeth. If she really needs the braces now then I'll do it but I'm not convinced this is the right plan. I'll definitely get a couple more opinions first.

Thats the way to go. Nobody in here can see your daughters mouth so nobody is going to be able to offer a meaningful opinion Not really looking for an opinion on her specifically, just wondering if it is typical these days to start braces that young for mild problems.