Wait, Colorado?

_DSC8545.jpg, originally uploaded by kcmckell.

Originally published Monday, February 22, 2010.

I could have sworn that URL thingy up in the top of my browser says “hawaii.edu”, right?

Well, it’s true. I am a bona fide graduate student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. That does not mean, however, that I spend all my time there. Case in point: This semester, I am living in Boulder, Colorado doing research under the auspices of “Visiting Researcher” and/or “Campus Guest.”

There are several reasons why a graduate student may want to spend some time away from his or her home institution. If the research is “portable” enough, a change of scenery may increase productivity if one goes somewhere with fewer distractions such as friends, family, and other non-academic commitments.

There are potential long term benefits as well. Working in different locations will only broaden the pool of colleagues that you know. While making new friends is always exciting, one never quite knows where future collaborations will come from, so knowing more---and different---people is a plus. Further, in this world of social networking on steroids (now there’s a Google hit just waiting to happen), we can maintain contacts like never before.

Lastly (and this plays into my love of travel), if one is lucky enough to land a job at an institution that grants sabbaticals---almost unheard of in industry---your opportunities for extended travel reduce to once every seven or ten years. Thus, why not get it in when you can?

Stay warm,

Clay