A favorite joke of mine:
A guy works in the circus, following the elephants with a pail and shovel. He absolutely hates his job, and is always complaining about the lack of career prospects, the lousy pay, etc etc etc. One day, his brother comes to see him. He says, “Sam, I’ve got great news. I’ve got you a job in my office. You’ll wear a suit and tie, work regular hours, and start at a nice salary. How about it? Sam says, “What? And give up show business?"
Credit: dwighttowers.wordpress.com
@CJ: If you haven't read this blog post yet, it's worth checking out IMHO.
ReplyDeletehttp://exchanges.wiley.com/blog/2015/05/12/improving-phd-completion-rates-where-should-we-start/
My "why I left" story should be titled "how I ended up shoveling elephant dung in someone else's circus." I wrote it, CJ, but rather than being cathartic, it was an exercise in re-injuring old wounds, and the product is 100% unpublishable.
ReplyDeleteMy heartfelt advice: fight to stay in school, kiddies, or earn your bachelor's and run with it.
Sorry, Anon. Let me know if I can help somehow. - CJ
DeleteNo problem. I am a resilient master of self-help with a long-term exit strategy. Just keep the jokes coming.
DeleteHow long have you been out? I've been out for ~10 years, and I think if I had tried to write mine more than a few years ago, it pretty much would have been an angry diatribe and I doubt CJ would have published it.
DeleteAbout 10 years. Mine would be the opposite. I had an incredible advisor... a real human being with a family, but my life fell apart at what could not have been a more inconvenient moment. I wept when I wrote it. "Mastering out," even for reasons that could not be helped, had a crushing effect on my professional identity.
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