The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Author’s NoteI write stories set in academia because academia is all I know.It can be a very insular, all-consuming, isolating environment.In the past decade, I’ve had excellent (women) mentors whoconstantly supported me, but I could name dozens of instancesin which I felt as though I was a massive failure blunderingher way through science. But that, as everyone who’s beenthere knows, is grad school: a stressful, high-pressure,competitive endeavor. Academia has its own special way oftearing apart work-life balance, wearing people down, andmaking them forget that they are worth more than the numberof papers they publish or the grant money they are able to rakein.Taking the thing I love the most (writing love stories) andgiving it a STEM academia backdrop has been surprisinglytherapeutic. My experiences have not been the same as Olive’s(no academic fake dating for me, boo), but I still managed topour many of my frustrations, joys, and disappointments intoher adventures. Just like Olive, in the past few years I have feltlonely, determined, helpless, scared, happy, cornered,inadequate, misunderstood, enthusiastic. Writing The LoveHypothesis gave me the opportunity to turn these experiencesaround with a humorous, sometimes self-indulgent spin, and torealize that I could put my own misadventures into perspective—sometimes even laugh at them! For this reason—and I knowI probably shouldn’t say it—this book means as much to me asmy Ph.D. dissertation did.Okay—that’s a lie. It means waaay more.
If you’re not familiar with it, a few words about a topic thatcomes up quite a bit in the book: Title IX is a US federal lawthat prohibits any kind of discrimination on the basis of genderin all institutions that receive federal funding (i.e., mostuniversities). It legally compels schools to respond to andremedy situations of misconduct ranging from hostile workenvironments to harassment and assault. Covered schools haveTitle IX coordinators, whose job is to handle complaints andviolations and to educate an institution’s community abouttheir rights. Title IX has been and currently is critical toguarantee equal access to education and to protect students andemployees against gender-based discrimination.Lastly: the women in STEM organizations Anh mentionsin the book are fictionalized, but most universities hostchapters of similar organizations. For real-life resources onsupporting women academics in STEM, visit awis.org. Forresources that specifically support BIPOC women academicsin STEM, visit sswoc.org.
- Page 330 and 331: Tom Fucking Benton take credit for
- Page 333 and 334: “Fine,” Anh huffed. “Malcolm,
- Page 335 and 336: recording of Tom Benton saying shit
- Page 337 and 338: only one bed in this hotel room was
- Page 339 and 340: “I haven’t.”“Yes, Ol, you h
- Page 341 and 342: Right. What about Tom, precisely? O
- Page 343 and 344: Holden sighed. “This is why Adam
- Page 345 and 346: Chapter TwentyHYPOTHESIS: People wh
- Page 347 and 348: In a lie.A lie, after a lot of lies
- Page 349 and 350: Olive closed her eyes and nodded, t
- Page 351 and 352: Cherie’s truck, and she almost la
- Page 353: Wearing expired contact lenses will
- Page 356 and 357: “Good,” he replied with a half
- Page 359 and 360: “Uh . . .” Adam’s frown deepe
- Page 361 and 362: “It will be horrific—”A throa
- Page 363 and 364: seventeen databases and built machi
- Page 365 and 366: When given a choice between A (tell
- Page 367 and 368: else to do it?’ I think my cookie
- Page 369 and 370: You can fall in love: someone will
- Page 371 and 372: faint yellow lights. “And I’d b
- Page 373 and 374: “No,” she repeated, pensive.
- Page 375 and 376: “I think that somewhere along the
- Page 378 and 379: He rolled his eyes. “What’s you
- Page 382 and 383: AcknowledgmentsFirst, just allow me
- Page 384 and 385: Don’t missLove on the Braincoming
- Page 386: shrooms they just purchased from a
- Page 394 and 395: “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, bu
- Page 396 and 397: more . . . connected than I origina
- Page 398 and 399: unresponsive to my brain’s comman
- Page 400: Photo courtesy of the authorAli Haz
Author’s Note
I write stories set in academia because academia is all I know.
It can be a very insular, all-consuming, isolating environment.
In the past decade, I’ve had excellent (women) mentors who
constantly supported me, but I could name dozens of instances
in which I felt as though I was a massive failure blundering
her way through science. But that, as everyone who’s been
there knows, is grad school: a stressful, high-pressure,
competitive endeavor. Academia has its own special way of
tearing apart work-life balance, wearing people down, and
making them forget that they are worth more than the number
of papers they publish or the grant money they are able to rake
in.
Taking the thing I love the most (writing love stories) and
giving it a STEM academia backdrop has been surprisingly
therapeutic. My experiences have not been the same as Olive’s
(no academic fake dating for me, boo), but I still managed to
pour many of my frustrations, joys, and disappointments into
her adventures. Just like Olive, in the past few years I have felt
lonely, determined, helpless, scared, happy, cornered,
inadequate, misunderstood, enthusiastic. Writing The Love
Hypothesis gave me the opportunity to turn these experiences
around with a humorous, sometimes self-indulgent spin, and to
realize that I could put my own misadventures into perspective
—sometimes even laugh at them! For this reason—and I know
I probably shouldn’t say it—this book means as much to me as
my Ph.D. dissertation did.
Okay—that’s a lie. It means waaay more.
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