Mar 13 2009
Jack of Some Trades, Master of One
Bart: Look at me, I’m a grad student. I’m 30 years old and I made $600 last year.
Marge: Bart, don’t make fun of grad students. They just made a terrible life choice.
Disdain for graduate students strikes me as a uniquely American phenomenon. In Germany, and I suspect many other nations, it is not at all uncommon or disparaged for those who choose to go to university to continue their schooling into their late 20s or early 30s. But any American plugging along in academia at that ripe age is looked at like a leper at a cuddle party. There are exceptions: doctors are generally appreciated until the medical bill arrives and lawyers are tolerated as a necessary evil. But those seeking an advanced degree that does not in itself qualify one for some specific trade are dabblers, dawdling with minutiae that will never escape the shade of the ivory tower.
| 4 responses so far |
