tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post8258861376659406780..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: The Big Thirsty. What Has Changed?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-16679500513008325862014-11-16T08:45:15.004-05:002014-11-16T08:45:15.004-05:00Hmm, 9 years ago I was returning for the 10 year r...Hmm, 9 years ago I was returning for the 10 year renewal of hope via academia ... Bachelors in the 80s, Master's in the 90s, doctorate in the 00s. <br /><br />After, 20 years of career stops and starts, I thought a PhD in a health field would provide me a final pathway to success and stability, with adjuncting begun during grad school a nice sideline. <br /><br />Well, providing care and Aware and Scaredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14700345349806280657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-46163027410895440942014-11-15T04:49:52.981-05:002014-11-15T04:49:52.981-05:00As ever, Cassandra has put it better that I ever c...As ever, Cassandra has put it better that I ever could.<br />All the best to you, ACA!EC1https://www.blogger.com/profile/13414931249618049097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-23345279929161052532014-11-15T01:53:52.855-05:002014-11-15T01:53:52.855-05:00May you still be posting here 40 years from now! A...May you still be posting here 40 years from now! And may we all be here to read it, and "here" be here too, in some form.Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-28397175675390037562014-11-14T21:04:08.587-05:002014-11-14T21:04:08.587-05:00Thirded. We make decisions, large and small, base...Thirded. We make decisions, large and small, based on the information available at the time, and when the information changes, all we can do is adjust our decisions to fit the new circumstances. You probably made the decisions you did for a variety of reasons, from not being sure what it really would take to get tenure to wanting to be responsible. Now you have different (and unexpected) Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-26687363958637539552014-11-14T19:53:40.417-05:002014-11-14T19:53:40.417-05:00Nine years ago, I was the youngest faculty member ...Nine years ago, I was the youngest faculty member in my department. Now, I am the oldest. How times have changed!Cindyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815313561677464295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-66770948859968594322014-11-14T19:24:15.469-05:002014-11-14T19:24:15.469-05:00I'm sorry, ACA. I hope you get well soon!I'm sorry, ACA. I hope you get well soon!Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-82714204496147794542014-11-14T16:15:10.491-05:002014-11-14T16:15:10.491-05:00Another hug for Academic Charlotte Ann.
(My phon...Another hug for Academic Charlotte Ann. <br /><br />(My phone won't let me add to your thread.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02906546940408742913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-64192497565434459762014-11-14T13:32:57.522-05:002014-11-14T13:32:57.522-05:00Me too :-( Both stuck AND "charred and likel...Me too :-( Both stuck AND "charred and likely to explode on contact"JaneBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17779448611795379774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-18195974411488879942014-11-14T10:41:40.065-05:002014-11-14T10:41:40.065-05:00{{{Academic Charlotte Anne}}}
I am sending you be...{{{Academic Charlotte Anne}}}<br /><br />I am sending you best wishes. Ovreductdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13961540854552566493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8949447239848268912014-11-14T10:39:47.244-05:002014-11-14T10:39:47.244-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ovreductdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13961540854552566493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-20634275536728633252014-11-14T09:58:04.388-05:002014-11-14T09:58:04.388-05:009 years ago I was just a few year into my tenure t...9 years ago I was just a few year into my tenure track job (now have tenure). I regret speding too much time/being on too many committees/working too hard to try and impress who? Lazy people get tenure, profs without an ounce of rigor get tenure. What the hell was I worried about? This past year I was diagnosed wtih breast cancer and I have spent much more time taking care of myself and my Academic Charlotte Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06617435890922621735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-47714834370763939232014-11-14T09:50:16.731-05:002014-11-14T09:50:16.731-05:00The page is always dying. It's literally in th...The page is always dying. It's literally in the DNA of the whole enterprise.<br /><br />Ferry trip was fun. I don't like being away from home because the page is hard to operate from my phone.<br /><br />I slipped up last week and did more than an hour a day, and that annoyed me. I truly thought I had the work under control, but I let it get away from me. <br /><br />Not to worry. Have College Miseryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01371354682300032653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-87264009098754844972014-11-14T09:37:21.102-05:002014-11-14T09:37:21.102-05:00That was my thought too, Ben. Is everything okay,...That was my thought too, Ben. Is everything okay, Terry/Gordon/RGM/whoever you are? Did the ferry trip end somewhere less than pleasant? Do we need to arrange daily (hourly?) deliveries of your favorite libation? Send Strelnikov after a key troll (or three?). Encourage people to stop telling you how to do a job they're unwilling to do themselves better? In any case, hope all is well. Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14343813957878384272014-11-14T09:34:18.800-05:002014-11-14T09:34:18.800-05:00Nine years ago I was just beginning to pull myself...Nine years ago I was just beginning to pull myself together after a major family-of-origin meltdown, which (especially when combined with the ongoing breakdown of the higher ed job market) had very immediate logistical/financial consequences for me, and which followed hot on the heels of finishing and defending my dissertation (which provided plenty of angst, both from the process and the Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-13051371467652385182014-11-14T01:04:42.160-05:002014-11-14T01:04:42.160-05:00My kids were little.
I was younger too.
Steve Jobs...My kids were little.<br />I was younger too.<br />Steve Jobs was still alive.<br />I still believed I might do something cool.<br />There seemed to be more magic in the world.<br />Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-24499979372696143012014-11-13T23:10:37.541-05:002014-11-13T23:10:37.541-05:00Hi. Please choose and use a pseudonym when posting...Hi. Please choose and use a pseudonym when posting. It helps build community. Thanks. College Miseryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01371354682300032653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-43138157345245397622014-11-13T22:42:02.795-05:002014-11-13T22:42:02.795-05:00I wish I had known back then how carefully one sho...I wish I had known back then how carefully one should choose their professional company. Just because someone can relate to you on a personal/background level and has compatible research interests should not automatically qualify them for your inner circle. It is of course ideal to have a fruitful collaboration with someone who “gets you” on multiple levels, but as a young person you are betterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-56538480907478753002014-11-13T21:30:54.619-05:002014-11-13T21:30:54.619-05:00I had just earned tenure for the second time, but ...I had just earned tenure for the second time, but this time at the right school. I'm still there, with far less anxiety about always appearing to be doing the right thing to my students, my deans, my colleagues, and my family. Menopause helped with that!<br /><br />Wait. Appearing to my students to be doing the right thing; appearing to my family to be doing the right thing, etc.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02906546940408742913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-83195454676062701592014-11-13T20:23:46.677-05:002014-11-13T20:23:46.677-05:00The last time a mod joked about that, it really ha...The last time a mod joked about that, it really happened.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-24143062737537967542014-11-13T19:06:41.140-05:002014-11-13T19:06:41.140-05:00I'm right where I was, doing the same thing.
...I'm right where I was, doing the same thing.<br /><br />Thanks for reminding me. That's my regret. I got stuck and didn't realize it.Reg W.http://www.sebring.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-74889370226046001862014-11-13T16:02:09.067-05:002014-11-13T16:02:09.067-05:00Nine years ago, I was starting on the tenure track...Nine years ago, I was starting on the tenure track, The Little Engine That Could after spending almost a decade as an adjunct.<br /><br />Now, I sit here in my office wondering how I can keep this up for another 25 years, given that I will never be able to retire on my piddly-ass salary (currently less than $50k for a 4/4 load). I was burnt out before I got tenure. Two weeks after I got tenure, BurntChromehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055976331443607569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-1897797023314835842014-11-13T13:26:47.387-05:002014-11-13T13:26:47.387-05:00Nine years ago I suspect I was contemplating quitt...Nine years ago I suspect I was contemplating quitting my PhD program. I was regretting my choice in labs, just hating my professional life. I stuck it out since I was ABD.<br /><br />Sitting here, now as an adjunct, I regret the decision I made 13 years ago to get a PhD. It is likely I would have gotten a nice job with my Masters, but I just wanted to teach college kids. What was I thinking!Frennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17126693773120200776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-69139806827686509592014-11-13T12:56:53.668-05:002014-11-13T12:56:53.668-05:00I see young adults pass through the apartment comp...I see young adults pass through the apartment complex I live in. I agree with an earlier comment that they are even more immature and empty-headed than they were several years ago.<br /><br />Each time I see one of them, I'm glad I never became a father and even happier that I don't teach any more. I was dumb and cocky when I was their age, but I outgrew that. It doesn't appear to Quarter Wave Verticalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03173446011323023116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-63857304683807307972014-11-13T11:21:30.738-05:002014-11-13T11:21:30.738-05:00In grad school then. So sure of myself. So smart. ...In grad school then. So sure of myself. So smart. I had the system wired. I knew I'd be huge. I knew I was smarter than my mentors. I knew I'd surpass them all.<br /><br />Now I'm at a podunk school teaching undergrads and hating the 6 hours a day I'm on campus. I have a much richer personal life, family, and so on. It provides a lot of pleasure and relief, but my career has been Hechttp://www.dumble.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-3822755111660754872014-11-13T09:25:06.767-05:002014-11-13T09:25:06.767-05:00Nine years ago I’d just gotten tenure, after 14 ye...Nine years ago I’d just gotten tenure, after 14 years of chronic anxiety of being unable to see more than a year into the future, of being a grad student/postdoc/Accursed Visiting Assistant Professor/Bullied tenure-track Assistant Professor. Now, as Charlie Brown noted, “Things could be better, but then they could be worse. For me, that’s pretty good.”<br /><br />My fellow faculty do listen to meFroderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.com