Where does one begin?
I am 49, with a M.S in zoology and about 23 years of computing
experience beginning with an Apple 2+.
After several years of
teaching at the 4 year college level, I found myself involved
in a genetics research laboratory. Since I was one of the few who
was computer literate at the time, it fell to me to program
record keeping applications.
As this evolved into a large,
well-funded project, I was asked to set up a Unix network
and a relational database server to handle the increased data
that were flowing into our flat-file database. Years later I
am still with the same research group with enhanced responsibilities
and a comfortable salary.
Some factors that made all this possible:
- Money is far less important to me than where my 9-year-old
son lives and goes to school. Having said that, I never turn
down a raise... And my salary is quite adequate, thank-you.
- I have pushed the edges of my capabilities many times,
but the "Peter Principle" has not claimed me as a victim.
- I have grown in my abilities, and am able to provide support
to others in similar situations.
- I discovered Perl 5 in 1994, and have never
looked back.
- I gratefully accept advice, collaboration, and the sense
of community provided by such groups as Perl Monks
Bottom line: Pick a field you like and work you enjoy and make a career of it. Don't let
your job dominate your life. There IS a life outside of work. Soak up
all the knowledge you can. Pass it on to others.
-----
"Computeri non cogitant, ergo non sunt"
-
Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
-
Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:
<code> <a> <b> <big>
<blockquote> <br /> <dd>
<dl> <dt> <em> <font>
<h1> <h2> <h3> <h4>
<h5> <h6> <hr /> <i>
<li> <nbsp> <ol> <p>
<small> <strike> <strong>
<sub> <sup> <table>
<td> <th> <tr> <tt>
<u> <ul>
-
Snippets of code should be wrapped in
<code> tags not
<pre> tags. In fact, <pre>
tags should generally be avoided. If they must
be used, extreme care should be
taken to ensure that their contents do not
have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent
horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor
intervention).
-
Want more info? How to link
or How to display code and escape characters
are good places to start.
|