Grad School

[Kyburz at ASU.Edu]

On Thu, 5 Dec 1996, Joe Varo wrote:

> On the subject of graduate school, Ted Samsel wrote:
> 
> "Anyone who `makes' it through graduate school is probably more than a bit
> of an asshole."
> 
> To which Bonnie Kyburz responded:
> 
> "...throughout the dissertation process, [she] felt such an urge to jump
> ship..."
> 
> And Don Larsson responded:
> 
> "On getting my degree I was ready to do something honest, like sell used
> cars!"
> 
> So what is it about grad school that is so appalling?  When I graduated
> from college I was planning on grad school, up until my adviser showed me
> a letter from the American Philosophical Assoc. stating that the outlook
> for new PhDs was pretty bleak. 
> 
> Being so far in debt for my under-grad education, I just didn't see how I
> could go even further in debt when, even if I did go to grad school I
> might still end up in some god-awful job I hated.
> 
> I would have thought that I would have thoroughly enjoyed grad school, the
> opportunity to teach at the university level, and then get tenure.

Um.  Well, it's not so simple " . . . and then get tenure."  You do know 
that, right?  Ask any working scholar.
> 
> I envy those of you who had the finances to go on to grad school in spite
> of bleak employment outlooks and admire those of you who didn't have the
> finances but had the cojones to do it anyway.
> 
It's not that I don't appreciate having had the opportunity.  And I love 
teaching, working in the academic atmosphere.  Recall that my response 
comes from the position of writer with unfinished dissertation-in-hand.  
And job reviews upcoming (even though they've been pretty positive 
here).  Sometimes, a disseration director, or teacher, can, well, to be 
blunt, lord their Ph.D. over you.  

> So what is it about grad school that elicits such scorn?
>
 see above.


Bonnie L. Kyburz, Instructor
Department of English			(602) 965-7756 (office)
Arizona State University		kyburz at asu.edu
Tempe, AZ  85287-0302			*or* surfus at chuma.cas.usf.edu