I am very grateful with you all for all I have learnt through this post. Our decision was made out of good will, but never good will is enough and I learn this every day as I get more involved in EA. I shared this information because I truly thought we were doing good by risking it and giving a chance to people that not very often are given one, and I was happy about this. Also because I am new to EA and I believe this community has a lot to offer with respect to tricky issues. Adoption processes are very slow so we haven't even met the person yet. I probably should have added that we had applied to adopt other teenagers but we were not allowed to follow since they required parents with no children (I understood later from people that work for the family court that what was probably the case because of their history of abuse, but I am not certain about this so I can't be sure what is the control the court has over the issue). On the other hand, I must confess I usually feel discouraged to raise as many issues I would like because I don't feel smart/informed enough, and it feels a bit selfish/inconvenient since there is so much information and logic I should go through before posting (I wish I had the time to read and study more!). Nevertheless, I have had a great experience in all platforms with EAs and I have always been treated with respect, even with sensitive topics or not very well developed ideas or assumptions. Thank you!
I have always been a bit of an antinatalist. In spite of that, I had a boy 3 years ago. My partner and I would like to open our home and heart to more children at home (we have a little boy already). However, we don't feel comfortable with the idea of creating new ones when there are so many needing a family already. In our country, less than 0.05% of the families who apply want to adopt teenagers and around 85% percent only want babies. We started the process so we can meet our future 15 years old new "baby" soon, who was never chosen by a family before because he was getting older and older. We are happy! Many of these older children grow up not ever having a healthy family.
I would like to know what people feel about reproduction. Also, is adoption only for people who can't conceive and want to have children? What if you can change just one single life and that life changes the world? Is it worth to invest love, energy and money on just one life as a personal contribution?
Thank you so much, Denise. Learning while working is what I think is best for me now, in order to put my hands to work on important issues. However, I haven't been successful in getting a job after almost a year of applying. That is why I was wondering whether I am not applying to the right jobs or I am not skilful enough for any job in the area of EA. Of course I always go for entry level jobs and internships. What I guess are jobs I could do are the ones related to:
data science for environmental, social and animal purposes
environmental and social impact assessment (impact assessment in general)
mental health and support in communities in need, minorities, etc.
Yes, that is exactly what I think I could be helping with. And I will surely keep on training my programming and stats skills. However, I do feel I need work experience and right now it is getting hard to find a job. I believe I am not applying to the right positions or that my profile is too confusing due to the different topics I have put energy to.
I may just focus on the data science skills for a while and when I get more practice I start applying again.
Hello! So happy to find out about this. My story: I just turned 33. I have a licentiate degree in Psychology (5 years), a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and currently on a Masters degree program in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. I love doing research, data science and statistics, though the only experience I have in these topics is the one from my PhD. Right after that, triggered by the loss of my partner, I decided to go sailing for some years to get to learn about unique communities living in nature. That was followed by maternity, and in the end I have (with some reconnection here and there) 5 years of no record of publications or research experience.
On the other hand, even if I was in love with my PhD project (what happens when languages get in contact, in the brain) I always felt that my energy and resources had to go to directly helping improve the current situation in the world. Otherwise, I feel anything I do has no meaning.
I would love to be part of a team (as a job) whose aim is exactly this one, doing research on any kind of priority impact, I don't care what, all of them are important. I know I have very little experience and at this time I can't afford a volunteering job. I have been applying for jobs I love for a year, but I haven't been successful. What do you guys think I could do to get the skills I need? My thoughts are getting more courses on Data Science and Statistics (numbers, networks and connections is what I like the best) or trying to apply to a PhD fellowship on Network Science. Still, it feels like I'd have a collection of degrees and no experience, so still not attractive to work on EA organisations.
Hello! So happy to find out about this. My story: I just turned 33. I have a licentiate degree in Psychology (5 years), a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and currently on a Masters degree program in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. I love doing research, data science and statistics, though the only experience I have in these topics is the one from my PhD. Right after that, triggered by the loss of my partner, I decided to go sailing for some years to get to learn about unique communities living in nature. That was followed by maternity, and in the end I have (with some reconnection here and there) 5 years of no record of publications or research experience.
On the other hand, even if I was in love with my PhD project (what happens when languages get in contact, in the brain) I always felt that my energy and resources had to go to directly helping improve the current situation in the world. Otherwise, I feel anything I do has no meaning.
I would love to be part of a team (as a job) whose aim is exactly this one, doing research on any kind of priority impact, I don't care what, all of them are important. I know I have very little experience and at this time I can't afford a volunteering job. I have been applying for jobs I love for a year, but I haven't been successful. What do you guys think I could do to get the skills I need? My thoughts are getting more courses on Data Science and Statistics (numbers, networks and connections is what I like the best) or trying to apply to a PhD fellowship on Network Science. Still, it feels like I'd have a collection of degrees and no experience, so still not attractive to work on EA organisations.
I am very grateful with you all for all I have learnt through this post. Our decision was made out of good will, but never good will is enough and I learn this every day as I get more involved in EA. I shared this information because I truly thought we were doing good by risking it and giving a chance to people that not very often are given one, and I was happy about this. Also because I am new to EA and I believe this community has a lot to offer with respect to tricky issues.
Adoption processes are very slow so we haven't even met the person yet. I probably should have added that we had applied to adopt other teenagers but we were not allowed to follow since they required parents with no children (I understood later from people that work for the family court that what was probably the case because of their history of abuse, but I am not certain about this so I can't be sure what is the control the court has over the issue).
On the other hand, I must confess I usually feel discouraged to raise as many issues I would like because I don't feel smart/informed enough, and it feels a bit selfish/inconvenient since there is so much information and logic I should go through before posting (I wish I had the time to read and study more!). Nevertheless, I have had a great experience in all platforms with EAs and I have always been treated with respect, even with sensitive topics or not very well developed ideas or assumptions. Thank you!
I had not. Thank you! Very useful.
I have always been a bit of an antinatalist. In spite of that, I had a boy 3 years ago. My partner and I would like to open our home and heart to more children at home (we have a little boy already). However, we don't feel comfortable with the idea of creating new ones when there are so many needing a family already. In our country, less than 0.05% of the families who apply want to adopt teenagers and around 85% percent only want babies. We started the process so we can meet our future 15 years old new "baby" soon, who was never chosen by a family before because he was getting older and older. We are happy! Many of these older children grow up not ever having a healthy family.
I would like to know what people feel about reproduction. Also, is adoption only for people who can't conceive and want to have children? What if you can change just one single life and that life changes the world? Is it worth to invest love, energy and money on just one life as a personal contribution?
Thank you so much, Denise. Learning while working is what I think is best for me now, in order to put my hands to work on important issues. However, I haven't been successful in getting a job after almost a year of applying. That is why I was wondering whether I am not applying to the right jobs or I am not skilful enough for any job in the area of EA. Of course I always go for entry level jobs and internships. What I guess are jobs I could do are the ones related to:
data science for environmental, social and animal purposes
environmental and social impact assessment (impact assessment in general)
mental health and support in communities in need, minorities, etc.
Any other ideas?
Thank you!
Thank you, Ardenlk!
Yes, that is exactly what I think I could be helping with. And I will surely keep on training my programming and stats skills. However, I do feel I need work experience and right now it is getting hard to find a job. I believe I am not applying to the right positions or that my profile is too confusing due to the different topics I have put energy to.
I may just focus on the data science skills for a while and when I get more practice I start applying again.
Thanks for your feedback, again :)
Hello! So happy to find out about this. My story: I just turned 33. I have a licentiate degree in Psychology (5 years), a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and currently on a Masters degree program in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. I love doing research, data science and statistics, though the only experience I have in these topics is the one from my PhD. Right after that, triggered by the loss of my partner, I decided to go sailing for some years to get to learn about unique communities living in nature. That was followed by maternity, and in the end I have (with some reconnection here and there) 5 years of no record of publications or research experience.
On the other hand, even if I was in love with my PhD project (what happens when languages get in contact, in the brain) I always felt that my energy and resources had to go to directly helping improve the current situation in the world. Otherwise, I feel anything I do has no meaning.
I would love to be part of a team (as a job) whose aim is exactly this one, doing research on any kind of priority impact, I don't care what, all of them are important. I know I have very little experience and at this time I can't afford a volunteering job. I have been applying for jobs I love for a year, but I haven't been successful. What do you guys think I could do to get the skills I need? My thoughts are getting more courses on Data Science and Statistics (numbers, networks and connections is what I like the best) or trying to apply to a PhD fellowship on Network Science. Still, it feels like I'd have a collection of degrees and no experience, so still not attractive to work on EA organisations.
Thank you so much for reading!
Hello! So happy to find out about this. My story: I just turned 33. I have a licentiate degree in Psychology (5 years), a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and currently on a Masters degree program in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. I love doing research, data science and statistics, though the only experience I have in these topics is the one from my PhD. Right after that, triggered by the loss of my partner, I decided to go sailing for some years to get to learn about unique communities living in nature. That was followed by maternity, and in the end I have (with some reconnection here and there) 5 years of no record of publications or research experience.
On the other hand, even if I was in love with my PhD project (what happens when languages get in contact, in the brain) I always felt that my energy and resources had to go to directly helping improve the current situation in the world. Otherwise, I feel anything I do has no meaning.
I would love to be part of a team (as a job) whose aim is exactly this one, doing research on any kind of priority impact, I don't care what, all of them are important. I know I have very little experience and at this time I can't afford a volunteering job. I have been applying for jobs I love for a year, but I haven't been successful. What do you guys think I could do to get the skills I need? My thoughts are getting more courses on Data Science and Statistics (numbers, networks and connections is what I like the best) or trying to apply to a PhD fellowship on Network Science. Still, it feels like I'd have a collection of degrees and no experience, so still not attractive to work on EA organisations.
Thank you so much for reading!