&thensome

So I'm finishing up my 2nd year of grad school and I found out recently my PI got fired. I'm not sure "fired" is the right word? She called it 'not renewing her promotion' which maybe is an euphemism? But at any rate, she's going to be gone in less than 6 months and my lab will cease to exist. The other 2 grad students are 4th and 5th years, so they've been told they must finish before she leaves (or start over)... Finishing just isn't an option for me (not nearly enough data, I just finally got done with most of my classes). So I'll have to start over in some other lab. But now I'm terrified of picking another lab! My PI was a well-established researcher who had been with the university for 15+ years! She had a great track record of graduating students on time and was also great to work with. I really, really don't understand why she was fired (she mentioned something about it possibly being due to receiving less NIH funding than usual). Do institutions really just fire PIs the moment they slow down in getting funding? It just seems so brutal. Btw, it wasn't as if we had funding issues. Money wasn't an issue, I suppose the grants we received just weren't high-profile enough? WHAT THE HECK! I'm now doubting myself in every way possible, wondering if academia is really a good choice for me, and depressed that it will probably take me an ungodly amount of time to graduate, now that I have to start over in a new lab. And on top of everything, my PI asked me not to talk about this to other people just yet bc if word gets around she doesn’t have a job, it could be harder for her to find another job. Which I understand, but I’m feeling very conflicted and I can’t even talk to my friends in other labs about it! AGH.