Bootcamp is over!

Greece, just like South Korea, is one of the one of at least 26 countries worldwide, where the military service is mandatory. The Balkan region neighbors share a very complicated, violent and hazy history between them, but some say the whole militaristic approach might be a relic of the past. Diving into the rabbit hole of how the mandatory conscription and military service is in line with the modern world has little meaning for me personally right now, and is a topic for another day. The reality is that every young male in Greece has to serve sooner or later.

My service in the army will end around September, just in time to start Grad School, so in retrospect, I was lucky to finally get my degree, apply and be selected for a postgraduate program, as well as have the opportunity to be done with the whole army-thing in under a year.
Well, the good thing is that the main part of the military training, the feared Bootcamp is over! It was in equal parts hard, exciting and weird. I had the opportunity to meet some awesome people, forge lifelong friendships, and push myself to my limits. Right now I’m spending the few days of religious holidays with family, trying to see catch up with the tech and physics world, and create this blog post. Next week, I have to go back, join a new military base, in a different city, and acclimate in a new environment for the remainder of my time.

My first paper was published

The other good news I can share, is that I finally have had my first paper published. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to start collaborating on serious projects and contribute to the scientific community from early on. This way, my goal of publishing some of my work before going to grad school is completed. ;) The whole story of how a poor Physics student from Greece got to visit KAIST, work with Korean scientists on a Japanese experiment, present it on two conferences and publish it on a European journal is a fairytale story that I’m dying to write down. The bottom line is; hard work pays off!

What now?

As I said, I my service ends around September, so I will probably be still flying under the radar until then. I cannot foresee how things will go from now on, but I’m looking forward to the end of this cycle, the start of Grad School and onwards to new things!