Why DC?

In response to my solicitations for topics of discussion, my esteemed swimming wife, The Arian-Mexican Offspring wondered, "why [I] moved to DC?", specifically relating to career changes in research and education. Good question.

As I was a kid growing up in Philly, I always dreamed of becoming a marine biologist--I never had any other career aspiration that I can remember. That ambition is what drove me through high school science (which I hated) and undergraduate courses that seemed so useless to what I wanted to do. Finally I was an upperclassmen and took a position in a research lab with a professor I have for Marine Invertebrate Zoology. He made the survey/taxonomy class really interesting with his heavy sarcasm and humor. Who would've guessed he was gay. I got a B+ in Joe's class but he loved my spirit--I always sat in the front and knew all his little useless bits of trivia. After working in his lab for a few months doing marine natural products drug discovery research I approached him with a thesis idea. He was impressed--apparently no other undergrad had done that before; traditionally they're given assignments. No one tells the Consummate Aries what to do! So the world of ascidian chemical defenses became my life.

It was this intrigue and creativity that I showed early-on that got me into Georgia Tech for my PhD. At 22, I was the youngest in the department, and very green. But I still came up with the interesting research questions (or hypotheses) that allowed me to excel. Eventually I realized that academia wasn't for me and left with a M.S. Along the road, I learned that I had a gift for teaching--I was regularly rated as the best T.A. in the department, and because of that, was hired by the Athletic Association to keep our football retards eligible. That's fine, I loved to teach. So when I was confronted with the self-revelation that I didn't want to become a professor, I considered just teaching high school. I figured it cant hurt to give it a shot. So I taught 1 year at a private high school. Only problem was that I felt my brain disintegrating the whole time I was there. The thought of repeating the same thing year after year scared me--I had invested so much in my brain over the last 8 years in college and grad school. I decided to leave, go back to research, and moved to FL and life in the Everglades.

FL was not what I had expected it to be. I figured I'd be happy amongst the hot beach boys, going diving, fishing, and boating every weekend, making good money (or what I thought was good money). Turned out I hated my job and life. I started lookin for a new job about 3months into it--mostly in FL, ATL, or DC. I always had an attraction to DC--its known as very educated, clean, and diverse. Just the characteristics I like in a town. At the 9 month mark I found the perfect job ad: Environmental Visualization Program Manager. What the fuck is that?! Turned out it was a blend of research, management, and education/outreach. Unfortunately, I found the job around the holidays, so the interview process got dragged out. Four phone interviews later, and I was in DC for a formal job interview. With my best suit and $75 hair cut (that's a story in itself), I nailed the interview, was offered the job, and moved to DC two weeks later.

So here I am--17 months later, and enjoying DC more and more every month. I must admit, I do attribute a lot of that to my new found gaggle of gays on the swim team. Sure I don't have the beach, but aren't good friends, a great job, and a dynamic life more important?