tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post1836435903687480486..comments2024-03-12T03:41:35.856-04:00Comments on From Grad School to Happiness: The Warning Signs I Should Have Paid Attention ToJChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04468758055878600762noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-81932339499250411412018-06-01T13:25:26.968-04:002018-06-01T13:25:26.968-04:00Wow. I just arrived to this post after months of u...Wow. I just arrived to this post after months of unproductive, soul-crashing post-doc. I share every single feature you describe and I am struggling with very strong sense of guilt because of that. After all, I am one the lucky ones, with a well paid research grant in a beautiful city. And yet, I have rapidly grown completely disinterested not only in my research topic, but in research and academic work in general. And the worst part is that the few fellow academics I share my doubts with look at me like I were crazy, or worse, infective ("ARGH! If this happened to her, it may happen to me!"). Thank you for making your experience public!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-82457494200894438392014-02-03T18:46:54.738-05:002014-02-03T18:46:54.738-05:00Thank you for writing this. It is 2014 now, but th...Thank you for writing this. It is 2014 now, but this post was published just a few months after I started my graduate program. At the time, I was already unhappy but took that to be "normal". Everybody was on antidepressants, right? I'm finally getting out and hitting the job market, and don't want anything to do with academia. My committee members urging me to go for "on leave status" instead of a full break left a sour taste in my mouth (I'm clearly "type 1"). I hated the job first, and later realized it wasn't going to do my career much good. I would have stuck with it despite the hatred/sadness but realizing it was useless suffering + blogs like this gave me the impetus to leave. Thank you. Jeannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-51249746120849730942013-06-03T23:02:11.950-04:002013-06-03T23:02:11.950-04:00I know this is an old post, but of all the ones I&...I know this is an old post, but of all the ones I've read through (and I've read through a lot), this is the one that hits closest to home for me. I meet every single one of these criteria. I started my dissertation a few months ago and can hardly bring myself to think about it, let alone work on it. I think I may be leaving and moving back to my beautiful, exciting home city at the end of the summer.<br /><br />JC, thanks so much for this blog and for giving me a voice when I thought I didn't have one.Michellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-28415975213588228742012-02-24T10:19:30.382-05:002012-02-24T10:19:30.382-05:00I've struggled with that second point in parti...I've struggled with that second point in particular (and, privately, the last) throughout my PhD. I've never wanted to work evenings or weekends, and I feel slightly threatened by the fact that others do. I've always referred to my PhD as "work". It's not a terrible job, and I'm paid acceptably well. But my heart has never been in it in the way that it needs to be to succeed in acadaemia, and with every passing year my desire to get out increases.<br /><br />I have to submit my thesis within 7 months, and I will stick it out - it's too close now not to. But over time, I've gone from wanting to carry on work in my field, to doing work in a related field which I'm not really qualified for, to not really wanting to work in acadaemia at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-79868553964032233012011-12-21T16:51:26.525-05:002011-12-21T16:51:26.525-05:00I just can't tell you how thankful I am to hav...I just can't tell you how thankful I am to have found your blog and for this post in particular. EVERY SINGLE ONE of these warning signs has dominated my life for the last few years. I am currently overseas doing the research for my dissertation, and even here, I find myself getting so much more excited about my non-research activities: volunteering with a great NGO, speaking to young students about topics unrelated to my work, etc. When I return, I have a year of writing, and then I am taking my PhD and running--frantically--from the ivory tower.<br /><br />Also, I am so glad you are saying what needs to be said: the academic job market will likely never rebound--certainly not to the sort of job market previous generations of academics faced. A prospect my adviser dismisses (just like he dismissed my attempt to tell him I have zero interest in entering said market).<br /><br />I'm not sure what the future holds for me, but your advice in the above comment is spot-on: even just the act of looking for something else to do is both refreshing and reassuring. Since listening to the warning signs and making my decision to leave, I finally feel hopeful again, like I actually have control over my life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-82759375259722485472011-12-19T15:45:15.663-05:002011-12-19T15:45:15.663-05:00Ha - I will let you know if I ever find myself in ...Ha - I will let you know if I ever find myself in SoCal. :)<br /><br />It seems so obvious now ... in any other job, dreading walking in the door in the morning or wanting to scream in agony every second that you're interested in the work is a sign that you need to *look for a new job.* I think most people realize this, even if it does take them awhile to find something new (if they ever can).<br /><br />But in academia, hating the work is just not acknowledged, and is CERTAINLY not considered a good enough excuse to leave. Apparently, no excuse is good enough to decide that you want your life back and want to find something you'll actually enjoy doing (or at least, won't hate).<br /><br />My evenings - complete with wine, movies, and quality time with my partner or friends - are my favorite part of deciding to leave. No job should own your entire life, and I'm done pretending that that kind of life is worth it to me.<br /><br />Just start looking for something else to do. You might be refreshed and reassured to see how normal the outside world is...JChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04468758055878600762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-20025167792830533402011-12-15T12:36:43.586-05:002011-12-15T12:36:43.586-05:00Wow, JC. If you ever come to SoCal, I owe you a dr...Wow, JC. If you ever come to SoCal, I owe you a drink or three. At this point I feel like you've saved me hundreds of dollars on therapy. I'm continuing to find this to be the most useful, resonant postacademic blog amonst many fine contenders. In particular, this really floored me:<br /><br />"The fact that I had to force myself to work and would never put in the long hours unless I was absolutely forced to should have told me that I didn't love the work enough to stay with it. Because while it might make them miserable, the most committed and dedicated academics work (or at least pretend to work) more than I ever did. It's not torture for them, like it was for me. And that should have been a warning sign."<br /><br />How did you crawl inside my head and type exactly what I was thinking? Force is the right word. It's the only thing that inspires me to action. It's torture because I don't want to piss my life away doing irrelevant, immensely painful work. Even my True Believer workaholic friends are finally coming around (Type 2 leavers), so why am I, a Type 1, still here? <br /><br />And conferences are a joke. You got that right.<br /><br />Last night I made a baked brie, cracked open a bottle of wine, and watched two movies with hubby. It was bliss. I don't want to do anything else with my evenings. Or my days!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com