I’m not gonna lie–it’s been an exceptionally busy week here at the Leaving Academia HQ. I’ve been doing a lot of work with some really lovely clients this week, and that’s meant I haven’t had any time for blogging. The upshot, though, is that by working with such interesting people, I’m getting all kinds of ideas for blog posts (I’m formulating a Glamour magazine-like “do” and “don’t” list for non-academic job applications, for example). So when I get a chance to breathe, there will not only be a fresh podcast up (!), I’m going to have some new insights for you on tackling typical job application challenges.
In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with a nice visual image that someone said to me recently. This person has recently left his Ph.D. program (which made so much sense–he’s a successful entrepreneur, and his reasons for entering the Ph.D. program kinda didn’t make sense for him at this point in his life) and had been doing a lot of reflecting on the whole process. Leaving academia, he said to me, is kind of like being at a party with a whole bunch of academics. You’re having a good time, but then when you want to leave, you discover someone’s taken your coat and shoes.
I thought that was pretty apt. In my case, I told him, I still ended up bolting out the door and hailing the first taxi that was driving down the street. That was how I ended up defending my dissertation on a Friday and starting my first post-academic job the following Monday: it was only when I’d leapt into the taxi that I saw where it was heading…but that’s a post for another day!
What visual images have you had during your process of leaving (or figuring out whether you want to) academia?
PS: Oh, and! My first official Leaving Academia column is up today at Inside Higher Ed! It’s actually already appeared on this blog, but Krista Scott-Dixon said it should be required reading for grad students, so I figured I’d deliver it to a wider audience.
Ahem. Now back to our regularly scheduled post: What visual images have you had during your process of leaving (or figuring out whether you want to) academia?
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I wish I could’ve called a cab when I left. Instead it was a 2-day schlep across the country back to my hometown. That included a 3-hour mind-numbing drive across the south plains of Texas. I couldn’t believe how elated I was when I finally saw the last-chance-for-gas station just outside Wichita Falls that signaled I was approaching civilization again.
Steve, I wish I could convey how hard I laughed upon reading your comment. Thanks for this. LOL to the max.