tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post4236798774586588734..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Brian from Birmingham Is Blue.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-3916089314119353082011-11-01T09:31:52.636-04:002011-11-01T09:31:52.636-04:00I feel incredibly lucky that I ended up a full pro...I feel incredibly lucky that I ended up a full prof with tenure (and it was indeed a matter of random luck), when the market was bad but nowhere near this bad. Still, I endured it for 5 years. And I think one thing I can give back is respect and support for grad students who decide not to do this and drop out of academe. I don't have enough undergrads who want to go to grad school that I Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-19445885392272286922011-11-01T02:26:15.886-04:002011-11-01T02:26:15.886-04:00I don't really feel sorry for you. I am an adj...I don't really feel sorry for you. I am an adjunct at a community college and would kill for a full time job. You have steady employment teaching, which at some point you must have wanted to do. I love my job. I get that teaching only intro classes can be tedious when you are faced with students who are disinterested and uninspired. The fact is you are teaching at a community college which Aretehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02671929999455583050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-42963799042479984132011-11-01T01:41:31.996-04:002011-11-01T01:41:31.996-04:00Strel--those people need to drop off. Seriously. ...Strel--those people need to drop off. Seriously. I've honestly not met one single person who's left academia and ended up worse off. Not one. And every single person is happy to be out of it. Most of them are significantly better off, materially and emotionally. I was prepared to leave myself and start fresh as a temp after losing my first job. I have no doubt that if I hadn't StellafromSparksburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17584701718285662953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-85175204445420057112011-11-01T01:26:35.716-04:002011-11-01T01:26:35.716-04:00@StellafromSparksburg
It's the whole "I t...@StellafromSparksburg<br />It's the whole "I told them not to do it and they did it anyway" element; calling the grad students "astronauts", etc. People here are hanging on to frayed shoelaces for dear life; remember that.Strelnikovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12660962615198939441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-61643803890604000492011-10-31T23:56:05.083-04:002011-10-31T23:56:05.083-04:00@AM:
Why are you pissed off at me?
???@AM:<br /><br />Why are you pissed off at me? <br /><br />???StellafromSparksburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17584701718285662953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-66266736008657553442011-10-31T22:31:36.820-04:002011-10-31T22:31:36.820-04:00I'm truly sorry you ended up with a career you...I'm truly sorry you ended up with a career you hate. I put my share of the misery up here, but I actually like teaching at my community college for the most part. I went into this with dreams of working at a SLAC. Who knows? Maybe someday that's where I'll end up. But the college I landed at turned out to be a good fit for me. Maybe it's an atypical community college. <br /><br />EnglishDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12046114978214062491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6462401758682497222011-10-31T21:57:54.500-04:002011-10-31T21:57:54.500-04:00On my first day of grad school, my adviser asked m...On my first day of grad school, my adviser asked me if I was prepared to be poor my whole life. 'Sure' I said. What the hell was that supposed to mean?<br /><br />I had just finished jumping through an ass-ton of hoops to go from local mediocre third-rate State to one of the top programs in the country. I had been pushed along by my undergrad profs, all of whom glowed about me.<br /><br /Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-85792317079533577412011-10-31T21:37:25.345-04:002011-10-31T21:37:25.345-04:00I am not sure if it makes you feel any better but ...I am not sure if it makes you feel any better but here it goes. All proposals have been declined. Even those that I thought were perfect [I don't think I can write better ones]. No financial support in foreseeable future meaning no grad students working on tons of ideas I used to have. Administration doesn't give a shit on innovative curriculum development and doesn't want to support plasmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00983069617439820699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-92204453780839603862011-10-31T19:58:04.483-04:002011-10-31T19:58:04.483-04:00I hear you Brian. I'm in the social sciences, ...I hear you Brian. I'm in the social sciences, but I'm already scoping non-academic jobs. Like a lot of other areas of society, the market is flooded and we're all fighting over scraps for pretty crummy starting salaries. I could move boxes for UPS, make more money, and NOT have to grade papers at the end of the workday. <br /><br />Life of the mind my ass.Bisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02025209722326662833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6048273324456762042011-10-31T17:48:59.162-04:002011-10-31T17:48:59.162-04:00Hello StellafromSparksburgh and JaneB,
Almost a d...Hello StellafromSparksburgh and JaneB,<br /><br />Almost a decade ago, when graduate school (in the humanities) was but a gleam in my eye, a few people did try to warn me as well. But not in the same drastic terms that I now warn my students. In fairness, the situation was not yet as bad as it was going to get. <br /><br />This year (my first on the market) there are 5 jobs, 5, that I am remotelyleewardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05919252143663847946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-28691994652738434382011-10-31T17:06:54.535-04:002011-10-31T17:06:54.535-04:00Students who think they want to be faculty never l...Students who think they want to be faculty never listen to me either. Though one post-doc did tell me that my experience was clearly a-typical because 'I won't be such a doormat as you'. Yeah, great, I'm sure that will help you in future... but it will not help me give you a great reference!JaneBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17779448611795379774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-60995039961636052422011-10-31T16:55:06.807-04:002011-10-31T16:55:06.807-04:00Yes, the load is typical. I was doing an insane l...Yes, the load is typical. I was doing an insane load when I was teaching full time at a community college on a temporary basis. Most of the faculty is doing 5/5. I did somewhere along the lines of 7/7 with four classes in the summer to help pay the bills. All intro courses too. To be honest, I gave up trying to work on research and writing as there was barely any time to sleep.The Cynical Optimisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07407831367759869205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-74388791603998096322011-10-31T16:47:33.514-04:002011-10-31T16:47:33.514-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.honest_profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05064694431651456842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-79605137441156094282011-10-31T16:45:52.939-04:002011-10-31T16:45:52.939-04:00Dang, Brian! I teach *high school* and my teachin...Dang, Brian! I teach *high school* and my teaching load is only 4/4, with 65 kids total. How can CCs expect people to do research with that kind of workload!? Is this common at CCs?Surly Templehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05057191570792423261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-39922026631609834472011-10-31T16:25:18.147-04:002011-10-31T16:25:18.147-04:00If you click on the community college label at the...If you click on the community college label at the bottom of Brian's post, you'll find other old CM articles that will make you want to blow your brains out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-73359245352921143512011-10-31T16:23:48.128-04:002011-10-31T16:23:48.128-04:00I always thought
that this post from March
captu...I always thought <br />that <a href="http://collegemisery.blogspot.com/2011/03/community-college-blues-stanley-on.html" rel="nofollow">this post from March</a> <br />captured some of the<br />peculiar misery<br />that is<br />the cc system.Richard Tingle, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15290520040846370364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51266721501325506002011-10-31T16:17:51.255-04:002011-10-31T16:17:51.255-04:00I guess my one question to you would be: if someon...I guess my one question to you would be: if someone had told you how it was, would you have listened? Really listened? Because I counsel students all the time to avoid grad school at all costs, and absolutely to avoid thinking that they will ever get a decent job teaching. I have been doing this for years, before the crash, because the writing is on the wall with tenure-track positions. StellafromSparksburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17584701718285662953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51315356127845524202011-10-31T16:08:10.811-04:002011-10-31T16:08:10.811-04:00Oh boy are you singing my song. I almost didn'...Oh boy are you singing my song. I almost didn't get the TT job I now have (with tenure) because I was adjuncting, teaching 6 classes a quarter--5 of them composition sections--(plus working part time at a Waldenbooks). The hiring committee wanted to know why my professional development was so thin. Fucking idiots.<br /><br />I teach 4/4--3 comp, 1 lit-- so I'm in a bit better shape, but IBurntChromehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055976331443607569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-23994673039974626572011-10-31T16:06:39.365-04:002011-10-31T16:06:39.365-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.BurntChromehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055976331443607569noreply@blogger.com