Missing the Limestone

Working in higher education ensures that you will move a lot. This is the only profession that I know of where the phrase "hire your own" is akin to leprosy. So, as you accumulate degrees, you move on. If one does things right, the next place is pretty good. Yet moving always seems to include the things you leave behind.

At both institutions where I obtained graduate degrees, the campus architecture was predominantly limestone. This provided a similar feel to both Kansas State University and Indiana University. Now I have left the limestone college-town campuses for an urban, predominantly brick campus at The Ohio State University.

In the university world, this is the time of year that everything seems new and exciting. This is certainly the case in Buckeyeland, as I am eager to begin both my classes and build my lab. Yet the cyclical nature of the academic world gives me a moment to pause and think of previous starts to the school year. I was no less excited to begin my master's program or begin work in Annie Lang's lab at IU. And moving on means leaving behind. And for this morning at least, I regret that second part of the equation.