Why does it suck so much? I'm getting so tired of 12 hour work days and if I quit, I think I want to go back to school. But if I end up going to a grad program, will my life suck just as much?

mullacc, I went from 12 hour (at least) workdays to law school at age 27. There are pros and cons of both, but grad school is temporary. If you think it will be worth it in the long run, don't base your decision on whether a few years in school will suck. On the other hand, don't go to grad school because you're tired of your job - it's not worth the debt you'll likely acquire.

Chin up, sam. Don't drink too much before you canoe.

Grad school is trying but I like the freedom we get. No set schedule is my favourite part. But I will admit there are days when all I want to do is cry. And, many of the PhD students in my program find themselves a little unhinged by the end. The poverty is the part that I really have an issue with.

God I loved grad school. Of course I was twenty to twenty four and partied like a rock star. Also got a degree I don't use and am still paying for. But I learned how to think and create and had a great time. If you go to grad school, be independently rich and go for something you love.

"
Don't drink too much before you canoe.
"

DUDE you're totally missing the point. the point is to drink too much while you canoe.

as far as grad school, i seriously don't reccommend it. i don't know what you're considering studying, but i wouldn't do it. i hate it. i'm a smart enough kid, and i do okay, but it fucks you up inside. there's no reason to do this to yourself, i'm thinking. i'm thinking that when you say '12 hour workday' i think 'woah that sounds pretty awesome.' i'm thinking my office is two stories underground. i'm thinking i live in what is without a doubt the nicest place on earth and i still don't know anything about it after two years.

i'm not staying in grad school; the best students i know sort of hate it but can't come up with anything else to do, and there's very little light at the end of the tunnel, career-wise, these days. i'm coming up with plan B. plan B seemed to be, maybe become a lawyer, but i just got into georgetown and i don't want to move east and i don't want to take any more classes and i definitely don't want to sit inside an office until my soul drips out of my orifices. i'm twenty-five. i'm thinking about vagabonding and seeing how far i can get. i'm thinking about the military. i'm thinking that it's not a good idea to spend the decade when you're both young enough to have fun and old enough to have your freedom two stories underground.

"
Of course I was twenty to twenty four and partied like a rock star.
"

dude, you and i must be in substantially different fields.

I never went to grad school. Apparently you have to have a college education to get in. Who knew?

(I dunno sam, however bad it might be, I'm sure it beats working at Payless)

dude, you and i must be in substantially different fields.

No doubt. I have a performing arts degree. Very fun, very expensive. I can't in good conscience recommend anyone do it, but I did have a grand time.

plan B seemed to be, maybe become a lawyer

DUDE if you can't handle grad school, don't go to law school.

What sort of graduate work, sam? I did a PhD in neuroscience and just structured my day like a flexible work day. I rarely worked more than 10 hour days, usually more like 7 hour days, and when I did pull a long one (long experiment or whatever) I just took half of the next day off.

Maybe I sound like an ass, but grad school was really not a big deal for me. Of course, I'm finding that in the US people seem to care a lot more about face time rather than quality time at work. Luckily I had a mentor that focused on the latter, and if I got a bunch of work done in the morning, I would just take a bunch of paperwork home and sit in my garden reading.

amro: What were you doing before law school?

Corporate bankruptcy paralegal, mullacc.

sam, I'm sorry things are sucking so much right now. I've never been in grad school but I have been drunk in a canoe and it was a blast so I'm thinking it's not such a bad idea.

"plan B seemed to be, maybe become a lawyer

DUDE if you can't handle grad school, don't go to law school.
posted by amro 11 May | 13:41"

i had friends at unc and ut law who told me this, up until they saw how much i worked. then they all said it would be easy -- my boss expected a minimum of a 70 hour work week, which doesn't include the time you spend on your classes. ergo georgetown etc.

i do atomic physics. it's not the research, usually; it's the classes. my desire to sit in a class and have a seventy-five year old get me to recreate work his grad students did in the seventies is fast diminishing. ergo, maybe not such a good idea, georgetown.


can't wait to get in the fucking canoe, though.

I wanna go to gradschool the gaspode way!

I also wanna get drunk in a canoe. And maybe a littlle frisky in one too so I can pretend I'm making American beer. :P

The drunk in a canoe sounds good to me too.

Seriously though - I didn't think my grad school experience was odd. My friend Zane who was in the same lab as me used to structure his day thus: show up at 10ish (after surfing in the morning). Do 2 hours work. Eat lunch. Go surfing. Come back at 5. Do 5 or 6 hours work and go drinking.

He's now a post-doc at Yale and getting published in top journals all the time.

gaspode, that sounds exhausting just to listen to, at least for me, and isn't the type of work done in graduate school level science mentally exhausting. Just looking at the textbooks makes my head spin. My hat's off to you all.

is drunkin' canoeing (sp?) anything like drunkin' hunting?

as long as you don't ore anyone in the face, it sounds fun. ;)