From Exodus, we learn that "you may plant your land for six years and gather its crops. But during the seventh year, you must leave it alone and withdraw from it." Well friends, I'm a big believer in the good book and after six years of laboring away under the hot sun of science, looks like it's time to take a Shmita, a Sabbath year, a . . . wait for it . . . Sabbatical. Ta-da! The Shmita is traditionally a time to enjoy the fruits of years of intense labor and explore. Granted, I'm not sure my six years qualifies as anything other than what it was (let's be honest, I did have fun too) but I'll take it. Here are some of the things I've been up to/am doing/will be doing while on sabbatical: spent a lot of time reading and writing for the newton, walked to the post office and back (sixty blocks) because I had enough time and it was nice out, donated blood because of some flintstone vitamins that boosted my iron, signed up for a drawing class, cleaned my room (multiple times in just a few short weeks, definitely a record), learned to make wontons, read two books late into the night (because I could - The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are fantastic by the way), went for a run at 11:15 in the morning because I could, renewed my passport (because I should), trained for ReserveCorps, pulled invasive weeds out of a park, and signed up to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity (because I have time to do something meaningful). It's been amazing. What a perk of being an academic - the Sabbatical! And whenever I get a little jittery over my entirely unplanned future, I have this poster hanging up in my room to remind me to relax a bit.
From Exodus, we learn that "you may plant your land for six years and gather its crops. But during the seventh year, you must leave it alone and withdraw from it." Well friends, I'm a big believer in the good book and after six years of laboring away under the hot sun of science, looks like it's time to take a Shmita, a Sabbath year, a . . . wait for it . . . Sabbatical. Ta-da! The Shmita is traditionally a time to enjoy the fruits of years of intense labor and explore. Granted, I'm not sure my six years qualifies as anything other than what it was (let's be honest, I did have fun too) but I'll take it. Here are some of the things I've been up to/am doing/will be doing while on sabbatical: spent a lot of time reading and writing for the newton, walked to the post office and back (sixty blocks) because I had enough time and it was nice out, donated blood because of some flintstone vitamins that boosted my iron, signed up for a drawing class, cleaned my room (multiple times in just a few short weeks, definitely a record), learned to make wontons, read two books late into the night (because I could - The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are fantastic by the way), went for a run at 11:15 in the morning because I could, renewed my passport (because I should), trained for ReserveCorps, pulled invasive weeds out of a park, and signed up to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity (because I have time to do something meaningful). It's been amazing. What a perk of being an academic - the Sabbatical! And whenever I get a little jittery over my entirely unplanned future, I have this poster hanging up in my room to remind me to relax a bit. 
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