Proud mama

I got an excited call from my younger daughter last night. She’s been accepted into the one doctoral program she applied to, with offers of assistanceship and fellowship money both in the works. Come fall, she’ll be working with an environmental chemist at Penn State, pursuing her lifelong dream to “be a scientist” when she grows up.

Being a scientist was kind of an abstract dream initially, but she’s followed it all the way through graduate school so far, combining an undergraduate degree in chemistry from McGill with a masters in environmental management degree (MEM) from Duke. Now, an opportunity to study soil chemistry and the way plants absorb metals is a perfect way to pull all the pieces together – her passion for science, and her penchant to understand and benefit the ecological system we live in.

“I wasn’t sure I’d get in,” she said to me.

I laughed. I’d heard the same story since elementary school, when she claimed to not be good in math. Every test was one she suspected she’d failed. But she is a hard working and eager student. She headed off any suspicion of academic failure by setting her sites on her targets and keeping very focused on her work.

I’m so proud of this accomplished young woman. She’s taught me plenty about goal setting and achievement. I’m looking forward to this stage in her life and academic career.

And I very much look forward to having her back in the same time zone!