STORY BY CHI-PING DAY, PhD  AI Generated Image (Artlist) Becoming a principal investigator , the holy grail of academic research, was never quite the dream goal I imagined for myself. Maybe because I felt I didn’t check all the expected boxes. I was a seasoned graduate student preparing to defend after more than five years of work, yet my publication record wasn’t impressive and I lacked confidence in grant writing. My experiments were unpredictable and my interest in explori

STORY BY ANGELA TOMEI ROBINSON MS MLS ASCPcm  January 6, 2026 AI Generated Image (Artlist) Looking down at my commemorative bracelet for 25 years of service, I realized I only ever planned on being here for six months. My goal was a career in the big city, not at a suburban hospital. So, how did this happen? There’s a long-running notion that staying in the same place too long can stall professional growth and make you less marketable. Yet my own path tells a different story: