I'm not sure how I ended up as an ABD [All But Dissertation] graduate student, but somehow I have jumped through the necessary hoops and landed on my feet. It's been a long haul from the beginning of my MA degree to the place I now occupy (on the cusp of finishing my dissertation).
Last year I participated in the bruising ritual of "the job market" with no success, and for reasons only known to those of us who are masochistically inclined, I am going to do it again. I am spurred on by the knowledge that somehow I am going to have to come up wiht the monthly payments on my $100,000+ student loans.
I have chosen to particpate in this ritual as a bright-eyed optimist - foolish? Perhaps. Dispite all of the negative news coming from academia (budget cuts, tenure denials, unrealisitc publishing expectations, and a lack of faculty parking), I continue to believe that it might be possible for me to land the "big job" right out of grad school; that I might work with lots of genuinely collegial people; that I will not have to sell my soul to a multinational conglomerate in order to get a decent salary and health care benefits.
That's my hope, anyway. I'm sure that reality will continue to rear it's ugly head, but I'm going to make an effort to "always look on the bright side of life!"
Tune in and see how long it lasts.
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