Back again!

We made it back, again! Actually, we were back a week ago but I've been locked away in the lab since then. This trip was easier that the first because it was shorter but held its own challenges. We drove into tornadoes (but didn't have to camp in the rain!) and pulled a couple of 18 hour days but ultimately got our work done. Given that this was the second trip for the students, they were not in as good of spirits as they were for the first trip. This time, they knew what they were in for! There was a feeling of quiet determination compared to the first trips' feeling of a boisterous, big adventure. 

The worst part of the trip for me was getting injured. I took a couple of hard falls landing on the part of your hand where the index finger meets the palm both times . It was purple within a minute and painful to the touch. I tried to finish out the work we were doing, but had to take a breather so as not to scream, swear or cry in front of the students. It was all I could do hold it together. My old labmates, advisor and current advisor have all seen me upset to the point of tears. Heck, I was crying when I passed my proposal defense. It is like crying is my only stress response. But for some reason, I really didn't want to lose it in front of students when I was suppossed to be 'in charge'. I just kept replaying Tom Hanks in my head telling me that there is no crying in science. It worked. In the end, there was a whole lot of cussing when out of earshot, but no crying. Is this what it means to be responsible? After more than a week, my hand is still bruised and puffy but I feel pretty good about being able to handle such an obstacle. 

Anybody else had to learn to censor themselves in front of students?