tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post1616102071773888398..comments2023-12-23T04:56:29.702-05:00Comments on Ferule & Fescue: Being luckyFlaviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-65765898016222262482007-02-04T22:08:00.000-05:002007-02-04T22:08:00.000-05:00WN: I'm not sure that I agree with GWB, actually, ...WN: I'm not sure that I agree with GWB, actually, that most of our peers would have thought Theo a failure if he hadn't stayed in academia--my view, anyway, is yours: that part of his magic is the ability to convince other people that he had a multitude of other brilliant possible futures. (But perhaps this belief is based on <i>my</i> attitude toward non-academic careers, and has nothing to do with my peers'.)<br /><br />And Bardiac: yes, absolutely--except that there were a lot of people with Theo's advantages in my grad program, but not his personality and not his luck. Some people are more equal than others!Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-22498151297662857902007-02-02T17:16:00.000-05:002007-02-02T17:16:00.000-05:00The Theos I knew in grad school were always people...The Theos I knew in grad school were always people from upper class backgrounds, the right private prep school (or equivalent), the right ivy or equivalent.<br /><br />And then, somehow, things fell into their laps. Little conversations where by coincidence, a prof on the hiring committee went to the same private high school, stuff like that. (Is there a secret handshake they all know?)<br /><br />Maybe a different sort of luck is involved sometimes, too?Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-46959936437269846332007-02-02T07:17:00.000-05:002007-02-02T07:17:00.000-05:00Many professors believe that any career outside th...Many professors believe that any career outside the academy is for the birds. This idea is bizarre. In the first place, our undergraduates go off in a thousand directions, most of them outside the university, and we all applaud them. No one would suggest that my former students who are now running experimental high schools in NYC, practicing many different kinds of law and medicine, doing cutting-edge software research, or making livings as free-lance writers would somehow be doing more for the world or better for themselves if they were professors. Why should anyone think differently about my former grad students who are making it as free-lance writers, doing a major job at a world-class museums, or running an institute that trains State Department employees who are about to go abroad for the first time in their lives about foreign cultures and customs? They're all living in great places, making fine livings, and--most important--working at creative and demanding jobs. I couldn't do what any of them does, and I'm as proud of every one of them--not that I had much of anything to do with their accomplishments--as I am of my wonderful PhDs who are in the academy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-83190028514523190542007-02-01T22:57:00.000-05:002007-02-01T22:57:00.000-05:00f.u.g.: It should be said that Theo, who's an advi...f.u.g.: It should be said that Theo, who's an advisor sibling of mine, is charming, but he ain't that charming. He also also called on those who are willing to help him, though, and not just with the letters. I'm sure our mutual Awesome Advisor coached him before he did this interview, but we also had lunch about an hour before The Interview, during which he was pumping me for ideas in areas where his own knowledge base was weak. We probably hadn't talked for a year or so, but he pulled my name out of the mental rolodex and off we went for lunch and some last minute prepping.<br /><br />WhatNow: I think that most of the people in our program would have regarded Theo as a failure if he'd wound up in another industry. I am ashamed to admit that I'm torn about my own feelings in that hypothetical situation. It should be said, though, to the credit of Awesome Advisor, that he would likely have been all for it. Very few prestigious scholars seem to be so open-minded.<br /><br />--GWBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-82316187115996083552007-01-31T22:10:00.000-05:002007-01-31T22:10:00.000-05:00I know a Theo too!! He was interested in technolo...I know a Theo too!! He was interested in technology and literature way back before the rest of us were using email; he went to a grad program that was closed down, and then stumbled on to work at one of the prestigious tech experiments on the East Coast; he did some writing while there that eventually looked enough like a dissertation to land him a job at a big research school.<br /><br />My Theo is damn smart, but was also totally sure that this field would take off, and just kept pursuing different options in it until it exploded. Much to learn, indeed.kfluffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09067013188119828400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-21521272162199117062007-01-31T13:59:00.000-05:002007-01-31T13:59:00.000-05:00maybe the job search is a crapshoot, but Theo appl...maybe the job search is a crapshoot, but Theo applied to that job which means he could envision himself if places other folks might not imagine. I like that part of the story.timnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01985699859449138316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-70246458494395498512007-01-31T11:23:00.000-05:002007-01-31T11:23:00.000-05:00IN the arts, getting a great university FT/TT job ...IN the arts, getting a great university FT/TT job seems to come down to: pedigree of your Ph.D.; hipness or interesting-ness of your research; letters of rec by important people (this goes along with pedigree); and your interview. So if Theo's a charmer, then he interviewed really well and got some great letters from well known people. That was his ticket. He made his own luck. THe job hunt is a total crapshoot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-57121133577644301012007-01-31T10:50:00.000-05:002007-01-31T10:50:00.000-05:00Such an interesting post. And, as Tiruncula says, ...Such an interesting post. And, as Tiruncula says, kind of an inspiring story.<br /><br />Here's my question (all about projection of my own inner demons): If Theo hadn't gotten this academic position and had wound up in one of these other careers that you can envision him in, would most folks in your grad program have thought him a failure? That is, is part of his "luck" that he managed to sidestep the prevailing sense (or at least it seemed to prevail in my grad program) that academia is the only valuable professional route?<br /><br />A guy I knew in grad school was one of these brilliant types who could never settle down to the mundane parts of writing a dissertation and I think wound up leaving without his degree. But I hear that he now writes a wine column for some magazine and has the kind of life he always wanted. I find that story also strangely inspiring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-34609494798222138822007-01-31T07:32:00.000-05:002007-01-31T07:32:00.000-05:00People spent years telling me -- before I went bac...People spent years telling me -- before I went back to grad school, now that I think about it -- that I was one of those lucky ones. I was lucky in business and in real estate (it isn't as crass as it sounds) and with my family. I was able to move around the country without any significant slow-down or hassle. Opportunities just seemed to fall into my lap. My brother-in-law kept telling me I had "the midas touch."<br /><br />No one says that anymore because I'm supporting my family on a grad-school-stipend. Do they think my luck ran out? Perhaps.<br /><br />I never considered myself luckier than anyone else. But I was aware how frequently (I perceived) people around me screwing themselves out of happiness. I saw my own luck as a refusal to avoid my own success. Rather, what they saw as luck, I saw as un-screwed-up normalcy. Just that everyone else screws themselves up intentionally. (There's something vaguely wrong with that last sentence. One pleasure of blogging anonymously is that I don't have to fix it.)<br /><br />Anyway: yes, we make our own luck. Or, we make our own luck by not intentionally giving it the luck that everyone already has.jwhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10220253409908482479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-49746686443866710812007-01-30T20:50:00.000-05:002007-01-30T20:50:00.000-05:00That's...strangely inspiring.
And maybe hits a li...That's...strangely inspiring.<br /><br />And maybe hits a little close to home :)Tirunculahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16788199657297216288noreply@blogger.com