tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post1351047730279787622..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: This Week's Big Thirsty. "When Did You Lose Your Academic Innocence?"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-5936668725113333522014-01-17T18:50:39.388-05:002014-01-17T18:50:39.388-05:00I guess it must have been when my mother's new...I guess it must have been when my mother's newly-hired-from-the-outside department chair hissed at her, "A single mother? You're a liability, and I'm getting rid of you." Fortunately she had tenure and a good memory, and he was eventually frog-marched off campus.Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-83704668143094542732014-01-17T07:31:28.722-05:002014-01-17T07:31:28.722-05:00What? You mean academia isn't all unicorns an...What? You mean academia isn't all unicorns and rainbows? Noooooooooooooo!Zeke Zymurgyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14103634342855587849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-42775357226161839562014-01-16T22:02:22.010-05:002014-01-16T22:02:22.010-05:00Hmm, it happened in grad school, but it's hard...Hmm, it happened in grad school, but it's hard to say which event was the moment at the water pump (referencing Helen Keller, but I reserve the right to mix metaphors here). Some candidates:<br /><br />1. Master's program, TA, hearing the prof crowing about his competition with colleagues about who could require the most expensive reading list (as a way of getting free books for Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02906546940408742913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-56678094992930838012014-01-16T17:16:40.195-05:002014-01-16T17:16:40.195-05:00Haven't lost it yet. With 379 days until I re...Haven't lost it yet. With 379 days until I retire, perhaps I won't. Of course, I do live in a yellow submarine...Walt Lessunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06543175448330140638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-82225122117530040142014-01-16T16:02:41.330-05:002014-01-16T16:02:41.330-05:00Like others above, I think it's been a gradual...Like others above, I think it's been a gradual, and continuing, process, and in some ways I still haven't lost it (or at least am still willing to tilt at the occasional windmill, which probably amounts to the same thing). It may also be relevant that I was never all that innocent (blame some combination of temperament, early loss of a parent, and early/continued exposure to the Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-60141777158329047902014-01-16T15:44:23.362-05:002014-01-16T15:44:23.362-05:00I was a faculty brat. I didn't understand the ...I was a faculty brat. I didn't understand the full extent of the stupid, but enough daily gossip filtered into my brain that I realized that these really smart adults weren't all very smart.Three Sigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10822893039310439770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-29426250734836258192014-01-16T13:27:05.945-05:002014-01-16T13:27:05.945-05:00This happens to me each yea. I have less and less ...This happens to me each yea. I have less and less wonder to begin with each Fall. When I have none left, I shall depart.The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-16127202123337134742014-01-16T13:25:51.936-05:002014-01-16T13:25:51.936-05:00When I was a student grader as an undergrad, my me...When I was a student grader as an undergrad, my mentor clued me in to the realities of academia. I wasn't smart enough to listen to her, though, and didn't switch majors to something that would allow me to work comfortably outside of academia.The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-79240702895256033582014-01-16T13:03:36.979-05:002014-01-16T13:03:36.979-05:00I lost a part of it in grad school (like so many o...I lost a part of it in grad school (like so many others). I recall reading my TA-ship contract/guidelines and it saying something like we were supposed to put in 20 hours per week. One of the profs in our department stated very clearly that we were not supposed to waste that much time "teaching" and get our asses back to the lab. "The undergrads are here to pay for our researchAcademic Charlotte Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06617435890922621735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-63144377399641340392014-01-16T12:21:24.362-05:002014-01-16T12:21:24.362-05:00I lost my innocence while I was still an undergrad...I lost my innocence while I was still an undergrad, in my 4th year. At the end of term profs put the marks for all of the assignments, midterm & exam, on the course bulletin board (yes, this was before the Internet et al., and this was how profs "communicated" with students about a course). In the "final mark" column I noticed an enumeration error. A really big one. SoProf Poopieheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00997969128824319914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-46084141615023745662014-01-16T11:56:27.637-05:002014-01-16T11:56:27.637-05:00I lose my academic innocence every day.
I lose my academic innocence every day.<br />Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-21746302637413884452014-01-16T10:46:58.780-05:002014-01-16T10:46:58.780-05:00Let's see...I think it was on my last couple o...Let's see...I think it was on my last couple of years as a grad student, when I suddenly understood I was <i> completely </i> on my own. Not in the sense of being responsible for anything that happened in my career (or didn't happen), but in the stronger sense that the people around me--advisor, department, research group, fellow graduate students--were all completely indifferent to Peter Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00754472537710161295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-54331899879008521582014-01-16T10:46:01.115-05:002014-01-16T10:46:01.115-05:00My vision of what university would be like was lar...My vision of what university would be like was largely influenced by what I saw in movies and on TV. When I started grad studies, I thought it would be much like what I experienced while studying for my B. Sc. I couldn't have been more wrong.<br /><br />At the department where I started on my first master's degree, I got roped into being the token grad student at the faculty meetings. Quarter Wave Verticalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03173446011323023116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-49403041023982964182014-01-16T10:35:15.512-05:002014-01-16T10:35:15.512-05:00I was always a bit jaded, but I lost all illusions...I was always a bit jaded, but I lost all illusions when the president of my university, whom I had always respected, lied to my face. It was an obvious lie, and it was obvious that everyone knew it was a lie. It only purpose seemed to be to assert the president's power to lie to us and not be called on it. Professor Chiltepinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10087270705989845484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-10754098904478659122014-01-16T10:27:55.208-05:002014-01-16T10:27:55.208-05:00I lost my naive and dewy-eyed view of the professi...I lost my naive and dewy-eyed view of the profession when I was first called "a necessary evil" and "a nuisance," upon matriculation as an undergraduate. So why do I stay in academia? I get to be an astronomer. Sheer bloody mindedness helps, too.<br /><br />Anytime I get too cynical, a good cure for it is to attend a graduation ceremony. Here at Middlin' State, we have a Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.com