<p>Occasionally, I see a reference to grad school as the best times of someone's life. How would you characterize your experience compared to prior and post-grad school periods in your life?</p>
<p>Haha, this is funny because everytime I reach a new point in my life (high school, college, etc.) my dad says that I'm at the best part of my life. :)</p>
<p>Your dad sounds like a smart guy. Even though I know that I have several more to go, I wish I had appreciated all the past "best times of my life"</p>
<p>Best time of your life is when you get a job, get a big salary, and you can buy whatever you want.</p>
<p>One prof said that grad school is a time to be very narrowly focused... After grad school, supposedly that is no longer so necessary. She said that grad school was a time all for herself, whereas before and after I guess she focused more on others.</p>
<p>Best time of your life is doing what makes you happy, being with the ones you love and making the best out of everything, grad school, yourself, others, etc...</p>
<p>Right now is always the best time of my life because I just love my life more and more every second.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Best time of your life is when you get a job, get a big salary, and you can buy whatever you want.
[/quote]
Wrong. Waaaaay wrong.</p>
<p>amen, 'theDad.' after my various internships, i'm still a little afraid of the 8-5 daily commitment--regardless of how great the job is. yet, i can see the excitement for having a satisfying routine, exercising daily, and doing your own thing. yet, there's way more to life than money.</p>
<p>"i heard 'em say, it's all about the benjamins. i don't believe it now, i didn't believe it then." --mos def</p>
<p>I like grad school mor than undergrad</p>
<p>psmyth000, where you go?</p>
<p>is there a lot of time to socialize and have fun while undertaking such work though? i'm nervous that i'm going to have to turn into a hermit in order to do all the work...</p>
<p>Wariness of commitment while trying to find the right occupational niche that you're happy with is one thing, and it's a very valid concern. </p>
<p>But I was objecting to the larger view about having a lot of money doing it for you. While a lack of money is no fun, money in and of itself, and the sometimes attendant mindless consumerism, does not provide happiness. The psychic gratification of one's family and career, the fulfillment that one derives from one's avocations, have nothing to do with money. And without them money is just so much tinder for starting fires.</p>
<p>I completely agree. Well said!</p>
<p>For me, it hasn't been anywhere near the best time. The uncertainty of graduation rings strongly when you're in the midst of the trenches. In no other professional program is the path (both direction and time) so indefinite. I toil through some deep schit while good job offers are available. Am I interested enough in something to be willing to give up almost everything else? No. Am I willing to sacrifice the present for future possibilities? ...still thinking about that one.</p>
<p>My daughter considered the academic (PhD) route for a while and while I thought it was not the best temperamental fit for her, I didn't say much. It appears that in her undergrad junior year she is pretty much shutting the door on that option. One of the things that I think weighs with her is that academia ultimately poses golden handcuffs in terms of geographic location...you go where the jobs are, you go where the tenure track jobs are, not necessarily where you (or a spouse, with his/her career) wants to live. </p>
<p>The places where my daughter would like to live--D.C., NYC, Boston--have a lot of universities with potential jobs but the offer are just as likely to come from Athens, Georgia and Houston, Texas if not Broken Condom, New Mexico or Moose Droppings, Oregon.</p>
<p>Yea, even tho I'm not looking into academia, locations do become limited for industry positions as well.</p>
<p>Limited, perhaps, but, depending upon industry, there are generally other choices. Okay, entertainment is concentrated in LA & NYC, but there are high-tech concentrations that would fuel demand for a multitude of disciplines in at least a dozen areas.</p>
<p>The Dad,</p>
<p>Professor is one of the jobs I am the most turned off to in the world. I know I will get flak for saying this, but I have no clue why anyone would want to become a professor. The amount of work you have to put in for so-so pay and pretty poor work opportunities just make it that much more repulsive an option, in my eyes. I would rather teach primary school, community college, high school, coach little league, ANYTHING but be a university professor.</p>
<p>Well, I dunno about that...for me, the one job that I'd flee from is teaching middle school. Just experiencing the hormonal vibrations walking down a hallway to turn in some paperwork was enough for me. As my D so trenchantly observed at the time, "The problem is, sometimes we're almost like adults, sometimes we're babies, and you never know which it's going to be at any moment."</p>