The folks over at CollegeHumor have produced an "Honest Grad School Ad" that should make all the College Miserables chuckle as you work your way through grading final exams this weekend. Check it out at : http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1944515
It was funny, right up to the last line "Because if we were good at real life, we wouldn't need more school."
Sorry. I was good at real life too, making over $50K a year in an administrative research position. I took a pay cut to come back to academia, partly because I still had the idealistic notion that teaching would have a better impact on the world than working in investment banking.
Turns out I was right--but the knowledge gives little succor as I face yet another round of furloughs and a probable paycut.
Hey, I had a blast in grad school. Of course, it took me only 5.5 years to get my Ph.D. I also tend to forget what I hated most, at the time: the extremely low pay and the expensive town to live in, and the freezing cold climate most of the year. Come to think of it, I don't miss it a bit... ;-)
Grad school was the worst 4 years of my life. I had to flee to get my dissertation written in years 5 and 6. Otherwise I would have been found swinging from the rafters.
Drug-resistant depression. "Drug resistant" is code for "Well, damn, we just about give up, so now we're going to pass a small, harmless amount of electrical current through your brain, m'kay?"
As soon as they set me free in the library, I *loved* grad school. I adored (still adore) my advisor, mostly because he left me the hell alone, but would still talk to me about any old thing I was thinking about. It was my first job that really kicked my ass.
Brilliant. "In the real world, that would be called a mental disorder."
ReplyDeleteThis is great. I went to grad school in my thirties and hated the atmosphere they're mocking here. Thus, I stopped after the MA.
ReplyDeleteIt was funny, right up to the last line "Because if we were good at real life, we wouldn't need more school."
ReplyDeleteSorry. I was good at real life too, making over $50K a year in an administrative research position. I took a pay cut to come back to academia, partly because I still had the idealistic notion that teaching would have a better impact on the world than working in investment banking.
Turns out I was right--but the knowledge gives little succor as I face yet another round of furloughs and a probable paycut.
Hey, I had a blast in grad school. Of course, it took me only 5.5 years to get my Ph.D. I also tend to forget what I hated most, at the time: the extremely low pay and the expensive town to live in, and the freezing cold climate most of the year. Come to think of it, I don't miss it a bit... ;-)
ReplyDeleteGrad school was the worst 4 years of my life. I had to flee to get my dissertation written in years 5 and 6. Otherwise I would have been found swinging from the rafters.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's what happens to people who can't throw or catch a ball....
ReplyDeleteI was only hospitalized three times, and I only got felt up by two creepy professors! It was the BEST!
ReplyDeleteHospitalized for what, dare I ask?
ReplyDeleteDrug-resistant depression. "Drug resistant" is code for "Well, damn, we just about give up, so now we're going to pass a small, harmless amount of electrical current through your brain, m'kay?"
ReplyDeleteAs soon as they set me free in the library, I *loved* grad school. I adored (still adore) my advisor, mostly because he left me the hell alone, but would still talk to me about any old thing I was thinking about. It was my first job that really kicked my ass.
ReplyDelete@BlackDog
ReplyDeleteThat stinks...