B.S. or BS?

Well, I did it. I have a fancy piece of paper sitting in an envelope on my desk which says that I have a B.S. in biology. There are times when I feel this piece of paper is useless and I dismiss its significance. After all, I have spent the past several months dealing with rejection after rejection. I have yet to find a job in science and am living paycheck to paycheck on a meager hourly wage doing a job that is not at all related to my field of study. Don't take it personally they say, it's just the recession.

This past week I interviewed for a position as an office specialist. The woman conducting the interview has a nursing degree and yet had the audacity to ask, "What does one do with a biology degree anyway?" Seriously? In the words of my soul sister Alanis Morissette: Isn't it ironic? I give up nursing to risk failure and do things for myself that I never thought I could do only to graduate and have a nurse ask me what good my science degree is? Needless to say, I did not get the position. It's probably for the best.

While my inclination is to curl up in the fetal position under my down covers, drink beer all day, and admit failure in science, I have to keep fighting. Truth be told, I cried when my diploma arrived in the mail. That piece of paper is a symbol of all I have fought to overcome and all the people who helped me along the way. It's not meaningless. I have to remember that every time I feel defeated...... if I don't know how meaningful that degree is, then I sure as hell can't convince anyone else.

I may be working in a bookstore, but I am still a sassy scientist and there is a place for me out there in this big world. I just have to get up from underneath my down covers and keep looking.