Life moves pretty fast...

...If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. 

This is how I was feeling up until this afternoon. 
I had some pretty hardcore decisions to make after my Comp presentation:  Do I Ph.D.?  Do I stay here?  Do I go to Toronto?  Do I go to Boston?  What do I do it on?  Can I build something?  Can I design something?  Who do I work with?  Ahhhhh!!!

I had two sticky notes plastered on my CPU at work: 
"And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose, I hope you choose the one that means the most to you" - From a Rascal Flatts song I was listening to the day I needed some inspiration
"I don't care what you decide, just pick the one that makes you happy." - From my Dad last year when we were going through this the first time around. (I think this is the most important phrase I've ever heard.  I'm saving that sticky note.)

I did some thinking, some prioritizing, some more thinking, some sleeping and some more prioritizing....

This is what I told my advisor yesterday afternoon: 
 
I only know three things:

• I want to do a Ph.D.
• I want to stay here and help you build your research program
• I want to do as little coding as possible

This evening, 5 e-mails and some discussion later, I already have 2 new potential collaborators in Orthopedic Surgery and one in Kinesiology (he wanted to work with me anyways, but it still counts).  Shit's moving fast....again.  I don't mind so far, because it's all completely up in the air and mostly ideas being brainstormed and thrown around...but I think we have a direction....and I like it. 

Hard to believe a year ago, almost to the day, I was scared shitless about dropping a job (and a paycheck) and going back to school to start working in a new field I new absolutely nothing about but was crazy-interested...and my potential supervisor seemed really cool.  Now we're talking Doctorate....and it's pretty close to a sure thing if we can get dollars.  Achievement UNLOCKED!
I'm excited and pretty damn proud of myself that I've done so much this year.  I don't think I would have accomplished this much if I would have stayed in industry. 

This past year:

• I taught two classes - pretty much on my own
• I've taken three grad-level classes and got grades above 80% in ALL OF THEM....while teaching or TA'ing, researching and keeping a part-time job
• I've been called a hard-ass three times
• I've been offered a position at U of T (which I'm going to have to turn down, but I'll maybe talk Post.Doc. in a few years)
• I've been called a Rock Star numerous times by people within and outside of my research team
• I've either written or reviewed three papers for publication - that's 3 authorships, still in the works, but they exist nonetheless...
• I've puzzled researchers in engineering, orthopedics and kinesiology worldwide with my awesome discoveries
• I've been to a conference and submitted abstracts for three more....still waiting on the confirmations for those, but I'm sure it's a done deal
• I've learned to live on a budget again and appreciate the simple things...like homebrew
• I've helped build a research team and put the U of S MOBiL group on the research map...again, even in a small way, this still counts for a lot
• I received an award from the Canadian Institute for Health Research and was called an "exceptional candidate" on the review forms - huge deal!

I don't think the list would be that long, or that impressive, if I would have stayed in industry.  The authorships and the teaching definitely wouldn't be on there....neither would the "living on a budget"....and I'd likely be much more frustrated with my life. 
I think if I'd stayed, I'd be wallowing in a pool of frustration and mediocrity, trying to get ahead but only crushed down by the corporate structure that ruled the company....sounds very "stick-it-to-the-man", but it's the best way to describe how I was feeling, because I didn't feel like I had any control over the direction of my career and my interests.  

I was anxious and afraid and it turned out really well, in fact better than I expected.  I'm in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, working in an area that I'm actually passionate about for a change.  It's all pretty awesome and I keep up momentum, it can only get better. 
Let's do Round Two!