Not a lot of blog posts in 2018, eh? And 2019 has been quiet in this space, as well. But I have a good reason for my absence. And here she is... This little muffin arrived on March 31, 2019. I could go into more details about her birth, but I'll save the story for another time, since this space is focused on my work. What I will share is that I'm considered a "geriatric mom" at the age of 41, and it was more difficult than I expected to get pregnant at this age. So I'm not taking this baby for granted. I want to revel in every coo and smile, cherish every burp and babble.
Back to business, advance copies of my third book, Bet You Didn't Know! 2 (National Geographic Kids) , arrived in the mail last week, and the book looks AMAZING! These projects are always pretty intense, but when we reach the finish line and then I'm able to hold the real deal in my hands (a year later) and admire the results of so much hard work, I can't help but look forward to starting the next one. Last but not least, I had a wonderful experience mentoring two graduate students in the Johns Hopkins Science and Medical Writing Program this past spring. Now the program director has asked me to join her adjunct faculty for the upcoming fall session. I'll be teaching a course on various forms of science writing to a class of about 14 students. When I graduated from the JHU science writing program (goodness, that was nearly 15 years ago!) we sat in classrooms at the Dupont Circle campus and exchanged critiques face-to-face across a table. Today the program is online, so my students will be scattered around the country and exchanging drafts with a tool called Blackboard. This means that I won't need to ride Metro 30 minutes each way to teach the course (woo hoo!), and I won't be tied to a daily schedule. (Blackboard allows everyone to access and share information during convenient hours in their respective time zones.) But the downside is that it might be harder for students to form relationships with each other, and for me to get to know them. Personal connections with other writers have been incredibly important in my career, so I hope I can find ways to overcome this challenge, both for the students and for myself. How is it possible that we're already halfway through 2019? I can hardly believe it. Fourth of July is just two days away! This is my family's first time celebrating the holiday in Florida, so I have no idea where to watch local fireworks. But I'm not a big fan of traffic and crowds, particularly after dark, so maybe we'll just light some sparklers in our driveway. Happy Fourth of July! Photo and text copyright held by Brittany Moya del Pino, all rights reserved. (2021)
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI write about curious phenomena around us. I also write about people who are passionate about their careers, hobbies, or life experiences related to science. This blog chronicles my journey. Archives
May 2021
Categories©Brittany Moya del Pino 2021. All rights reserved.
|