Support the Barton family during CERN internship
Donation protected
Hello all,
As some of you may know, for the past several years I have been taking courses at CSU, Northridge, working towards getting my masters in physics. For those of you that didn’t know…SURPRISE! For the past several years I have been taking courses at CSU, Northridge, working towards getting my masters in physics!
I’ve been able to keep working as a commercial production designer while pursuing this degree, so it’s been a very busy (and sleepless) couple years.
“Why are you doing this, Mike?” Well, with the advent of new media (Netflix, Amazon, streaming, etc.) and new ways of advertising, I was afraid that the commercial industry as I’ve known it may have an expiration date. (I personally believe we’re witnessing the beginning of the decline of the TV commercial industry, and would wager it will be entirely changed/dissolved within 5 years time.)
If the TV commercial industry declines, I am out of a job. In light of this possibility, a couple years ago our family decided to look for other options, and decided my earning another degree would allow me to change careers into a new field, should the need arise.
As part of my studies, I have also been working at a computational bio-physics laboratory at CSUN doing research that may help chemotherapy drugs have less negative side effects for patients (like I mentioned, I don’t really sleep.) This work has been incredibly rewarding, as helping cancer patients is quite a change from my “day job” of selling stuff in commercials.
Now it appears that my hard work is beginning to pay off. I am incredibly excited to announce that I have been accepted to an internship at CERN in Switzerland. It was an incredibly competitive internship, and I still kind of can’t believe I was accepted. For those who don't know what CERN is, you may know it as the Large Hadron Particle Collider. It is far and away the best scientific research center in the world, and will open doors and opportunities for this new career path, and for our family.
I am required to go for a minimum of 8 weeks, and will be leaving in June.
Photo of ATLAS, the particle detector I will be working on at CERN.
While it is incredibly exciting, it is also a little bit heart wrenching and stressful as I will have to leave my family for that time. (I don't want to be away from them even for a minute.) Thus far, I have also been able to work while pursuing my degree. Now however, I would not be able to work during the months I am gone on this internship, raising the question of whether I should accept it.
After some serious discussion, my wife Bethany and I have both agreed that it is for the best that I go (She being even more adamant about it than I.) This is the top research facility in the world, and taking an internship there would all but guarantee I can get a good-paying job in this new field, should my current industry take the nose-dive we all see coming.
For this reason we feel that this step is a step towards protecting our family's future. In light of this, it seems to be the more responsible decision that I take this internship, as the long term benefit outweighs the short term risk involved.
So we've made the decision that I should go...Great right?
Well, while the internship program itself is funded (flight and lodging,) it pays only a small stipend to the student (me!) as it is meant for students who do not have a family to support. Even with Bethany working full-time, she doesn’t make quite enough to cover the cost of our bills while I am away. While we’re certainly saving and budgeting, I am also hoping to raise some funds to help offset some of the costs during this time. That is the reason I have started this GoFundMe campaign. The money raised here won’t be going to help me while I am at CERN, but will be going to my family to help support them during the months that I am not able to work. Anything helps-- $5, $20, whatever you feel you can afford! Anything at all is appreciated.
Thanks for helping our family make this career/life change to something more secure. We are so thankful you’re a part of our community and our tribe.
As some of you may know, for the past several years I have been taking courses at CSU, Northridge, working towards getting my masters in physics. For those of you that didn’t know…SURPRISE! For the past several years I have been taking courses at CSU, Northridge, working towards getting my masters in physics!
I’ve been able to keep working as a commercial production designer while pursuing this degree, so it’s been a very busy (and sleepless) couple years.
“Why are you doing this, Mike?” Well, with the advent of new media (Netflix, Amazon, streaming, etc.) and new ways of advertising, I was afraid that the commercial industry as I’ve known it may have an expiration date. (I personally believe we’re witnessing the beginning of the decline of the TV commercial industry, and would wager it will be entirely changed/dissolved within 5 years time.)
If the TV commercial industry declines, I am out of a job. In light of this possibility, a couple years ago our family decided to look for other options, and decided my earning another degree would allow me to change careers into a new field, should the need arise.
As part of my studies, I have also been working at a computational bio-physics laboratory at CSUN doing research that may help chemotherapy drugs have less negative side effects for patients (like I mentioned, I don’t really sleep.) This work has been incredibly rewarding, as helping cancer patients is quite a change from my “day job” of selling stuff in commercials.
Now it appears that my hard work is beginning to pay off. I am incredibly excited to announce that I have been accepted to an internship at CERN in Switzerland. It was an incredibly competitive internship, and I still kind of can’t believe I was accepted. For those who don't know what CERN is, you may know it as the Large Hadron Particle Collider. It is far and away the best scientific research center in the world, and will open doors and opportunities for this new career path, and for our family.
I am required to go for a minimum of 8 weeks, and will be leaving in June.
Photo of ATLAS, the particle detector I will be working on at CERN.
While it is incredibly exciting, it is also a little bit heart wrenching and stressful as I will have to leave my family for that time. (I don't want to be away from them even for a minute.) Thus far, I have also been able to work while pursuing my degree. Now however, I would not be able to work during the months I am gone on this internship, raising the question of whether I should accept it.
After some serious discussion, my wife Bethany and I have both agreed that it is for the best that I go (She being even more adamant about it than I.) This is the top research facility in the world, and taking an internship there would all but guarantee I can get a good-paying job in this new field, should my current industry take the nose-dive we all see coming.
For this reason we feel that this step is a step towards protecting our family's future. In light of this, it seems to be the more responsible decision that I take this internship, as the long term benefit outweighs the short term risk involved.
So we've made the decision that I should go...Great right?
Well, while the internship program itself is funded (flight and lodging,) it pays only a small stipend to the student (me!) as it is meant for students who do not have a family to support. Even with Bethany working full-time, she doesn’t make quite enough to cover the cost of our bills while I am away. While we’re certainly saving and budgeting, I am also hoping to raise some funds to help offset some of the costs during this time. That is the reason I have started this GoFundMe campaign. The money raised here won’t be going to help me while I am at CERN, but will be going to my family to help support them during the months that I am not able to work. Anything helps-- $5, $20, whatever you feel you can afford! Anything at all is appreciated.
Thanks for helping our family make this career/life change to something more secure. We are so thankful you’re a part of our community and our tribe.
Organizer
Michael Barton
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA