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Pandemic or not, I am pretty weird and I like to believe that it is all due to being in academia for nearly ten years before my current job. Wait, does that mean I was in school for a very long time?

Sure, it does. But, also that I worked in academic research labs for all those years. I had a career in doing research.

What is research?

A very strict physics teacher I had in graduate school said the following:

Research is where Google ends.

If it is searchable, then it is a literature search. Not research. A literature search is an important part of the research, but a part of it only.

Research is new and novel (like the COVID-19) and progresses the specific field you are doing research in.

So… anyway, I blame everything quirky about me on my career as a researcher. If I am weird, it is because I used to do science for a living. Barely a living, but I got by.

I didn’t admire science, or popularize it, or like it. I used to DO it, ya know.

Doing science is different from liking it. You kinda hate it in the end because you love it too much.

Oh well, I digress. (But what academic does not?)

Science and academic research did teach me how to survive a pandemic though, turns out.

Work from home is heaven for academics (introverts)

I am not generally able to work from home in my current job and kind of forgot how great it is.

Oh, I love it. I don’t have to meet or speak to people, it’s so great. Although very capable of being outgoing, I am an introvert.

We introverts love our quiet time. I love just working without having to meet people and engage in small talk.

I love long stretches of productivity without interruption. I love just being able to THINK. To read. I mean, how can you read when people are talking around you? I love reading and writing and working in silence.

I LOVE IT.

via GIPHY

This pandemic reminds me of the time when I was hiding at home during my Ph.D. secretly writing my thesis.

Yeah, sometimes, you have to write your thesis in secret in academia, but it teaches you to hide really well.

Academics have years of practice in isolating themselves (during a pandemic)

As a researcher, if you got good at your topic (God forbid) there would be so many people constantly bugging you. You’d be constantly engaging and meeting and giving talks and going to talks.

Ya can’t get anything done unless you isolate sometimes. So, hiding to write your thesis is like the only way to graduate, pretty much.

Since I did graduate, it means I have mastered the art of hiding. It is really helping now.

Academics hate driving (pandemic or not)

I mean, was I supposed to have a Ph.D. in physics AND be able to drive?

Commuting is the worst. It causes so much stress and anxiety while we are actively late everywhere and to every meeting, without fail.

via GIPHY

I would much rather wake up and already be at work.

We love talking to ourselves

And… I can do it without people judging me and in multiple accents. YES!

SO nice to catch up with me by me. It’s like: how do people function without having a proper conversation with themselves now and then?

I can do it anytime now. It’s just me and my son who is a cat. I talk to him and I talk to me.

I tell jokes and I laugh at them.

It’s called being self-sufficient, which research also teaches you to be because never trust anyone, because why would you? If they said they measured something, they probably didn’t, ya know. Measure it yourself.

Scientists are paranoid and that can save lives during a pandemic

Researchers have to be paranoid. It is part of doing science. Disbelieve and question everything. One can’t be too careful.

You can’t measure carefully enough. One can’t experiment carelessly. It is mandatory to care and be careful.

You can’t break expensive equipment. (Too often)

Similarly, you can’t wash your hands too often. Wash them, open a door, wash them again.

We already have a companion (it’s our work)

Just kidding, we socialize too. People don’t like us, so the only ones who socialize with us are our furry friends.

They are there for us and get us through our PhDs and other horrible ordeals.

When the world locks down, and we have to isolate, we are ready. All I ever need is my cat-son, through a pandemic or otherwise.

He greatly appreciates having me around more as well.

Pandemic-related isolation gives us more time and energy to follow our passions

All that energy I save from not talking to anyone all day can be leveraged to do things I am passionate about.

Like,

• singing
• dancing
• playing the piano (badly)
• WRITING
• learning Spanish

What academic is not multi-talented? These other things allow us to get through our terrible failures otherwise known as research work. So… having the time and more importantly, energy, to nurture and pursue these interests are greatly appreciated.

Isolated, I have enough time and energy to get my work done AND do other things.

What do you mean: work-life balance?

Academia taught me to embrace work-life integration. There is no such thing as ever being done with research. We are never done with work. The thought might scare you and drive you insane. But, that is just the reality for academics.

Work and life being the same thing is kind of like business as per usual, ya know. I can thrive the shit out of that.

We never learned how to grocery shop and cook and all that, anyway

Not being able to grocery shop or cook a lot is totally fine by me. I can eat oatmeal or Chowmeins for days.

Being in school all my life means that I don’t really know how to be a real adult, anyway.

Pandemic or not, I stock up on food that comes out of cans or boxes or bags and can be heated or cooked with minimal effort to turn into edible food.

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