Plenty of Opportunity but...

As the economy descended even further towards rock bottom, so too did our fundraising efforts (the AARI Gift Shop) which recorded its lowest monthly profit since it first opened last December. As depressing as that is, I am not discouraged. AARI isn’t like other research institutions in that we don’t have set expenses to eat away at our income each month. Since we have yet to bring in a steady stream of revenue, we have been careful not to commit to costly endeavors that could put us deep in debt before we ever really get off the ground. Instead of running up tabs on reagents and equipment we can’t afford, we just have to wait a little longer so that we can purchase those items outright instead.

I have received a lot of correspondence from other astrobiologists-in-training who have found it very difficult to secure financial aid for school or to find steady work that would allow them to pursue their dreams in a relevant occupation. My greatest regret is that we do not yet have enough money to be able to hire anyone from this pool of highly talented individuals. Although I was fortunate enough to be rewarded in my pursuits where my education is concerned, I was searching for other opportunities (esp. next summer) as well.

I had applied to the International Space University’s summer SSP09 program (to be held at NASA-Ames Research Center) in addition to the MSS program (as a fall-back position, in the event that I was not accepted to a doctoral program—which I was). While I was accepted to both of these programs, I was finding myself hard-pressed to be able to pay the more than 33,000 Euro tuition bill. At the very least, I would have liked to attend the summer program before starting my PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then, perhaps later after graduation, returning for that Masters program. I suppose it isn’t a huge loss to not be able to attend the MSS program in Strasbourg, France but having NASA-Ames on the resumé would have been a nice bonus indeed!

That doesn’t mean I won’t have anything to do next summer if I can’t go. There is a possibility that I might be able to get started at the University of Wisconsin a bit early (again, funding permitting) which, in all actuality would be the best possible scenario. If I can’t have everything, then at least I can have the best of what’s out there for me. Just in case, I decided to devote all of next month's profits towards a scholarship fund to send me to the SSP09. You just never know... if anyone wants to click on the ads here on the blog and toss a few pennies my way (through AdSense), I won't object!