academic success, getting in the club

 Yesterday we lived it up like we were rich and wildly successful.  We ate at our favorite Georgetown restaurant (sans children!), strolled down ritzy D.C. streets, and celebrated Brady's first major peer review publication.   This paper, with Brady its '1st author' (meaning his ideas and his name to be cited) was accepted at the Academy of Management Journal, a top "A" rated journal. It is a feat that even makes his professors envious and we couldn't help but celebrate.

 As soon as his publication was 'in press' a congratulatory department- wide email went out to break the news, followed by pats on the back from faculty and students, a bonus, and ultimately a shift in his status. Getting a paper to your name, in a widely read journal, as a Phd student is a B-I-G deal.

It makes the difference between getting to choose  your next job and having to just take what positions and salaries are left over.  It means the difference between getting into the club of tenure-track "professors" and being a just a 'lecturer' with little university influence, no job security, and half the pay.

The process to create a scientifically sound, convincing, paper published is a long suckie road. It's not always fruitful. But this time, years of hard work paid off. Congrats Brady, I'm proud of you.