Based on the title of this video, "From Pac-man to the Seafloor," the intended focus of this video is Clay Kunz's childhood love of video games and how that launched him on a career in engineering. Indeed, that's where things start. But what really grabbed my attention was the second half of the video, in which Clay talks about balancing graduate school and a family. First of all, it's still relatively unusual — and thus, always encouraging — to hear a man talking publicly about work/life balance. And Clay spins it in an unexpected direction. Rather than focusing on the challenges of juggling all the competing demands, he talks about the benefits of having a family - to put his research into perspective and {gasp} take his mind off science for a while. With all the research and discussion of how having children can slow or end a woman's career in science, Clay's is a distinctly refreshing perspective on the issue.
