Ep10. From Sweeping Floors to Studying Volcanoes at MIT with Dr. Peter Barry

Описание: What if the job you think is a dead end is actually your biggest career asset?

In this episode, Tom's cousin Pete joins the pod to talk about why grit beats polish, what he actually looks for when reviewing grad school applications (hint: it's not your GPA), and the real tradeoffs of taking the scenic route in your career. Plus, Lorenzo opens up about how getting DOGE'd has him rethinking his own path.

If you're stuck in a job that feels like it's going nowhere — this one's for you.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Meet the "Better Barry" (and the Brady Bunch intro)
2:01 – Who is Pete? Woods Hole, Birkenstocks, and cracking gas
5:06 – Why geology? Field trips, fossils, and finding your thing
9:00 – Everyone went to grad school... except Pete
11:06 – The odd jobs era: valet, babysitting, and gas station hot dogs
13:00 – "Soul-crushing": what the field technician job actually looked like
15:41 – Day one: "Here's a broom, start sweeping"
17:18 – How hating your job becomes the best motivation
19:08 – The last-minute call that changed everything
22:15 – Plot twist: the dead-end job got him into Scripps
23:45 – What Pete looks for when reviewing MIT applications
26:48 – Reality Gap #2: Passion vs. building the "perfect" resume
29:42 – Antonia's passions: travel, food, and doing the dirty work
33:09 – Pete's brother, studying abroad, and 40 countries later
36:52 – Lorenzo reflects: what Pete's story means for his own path
39:28 – Getting DOGE'd and learning to see setbacks as opportunities
43:00 – 100 applications, 99 rejections: Pete's real journey to tenure
45:13 – The tradeoff no one talks about: starting a family at 40
48:00 – Pete's advice: why you should travel while you can
53:11 – Grit over polish: final thoughts
55:02 – Shameless plug for The Search + wrap-up

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