The accidently doctor
Nov. 16th, 2004 12:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcIt may surprise some, but I never intended to get a PhD. Really.
My undergraduate years, as a continuation of primary and secondary school, were characterized by cynicism about the whole educational enterprise. However I realized that a BA/BSc/BWoteva was gonna be the new Grade 12, so I scurried through. By then I had clearly severed learning from school. I had no career aspirations or focus ("I like working with people. I can drink a whole 24 of beer in about 4 hours."). I continued to read widely.
In 1995 I did one of those "I have no idea what kind of job to get, so long as it's not in the career I've been trapped in for the last decade" courses, thanks tounemployment Employment Insurance. We did Myers-Briggs, we did tiddly winks, we were inventoried until our holes bled. Most people got things like "you could be a pilot, or entrepreneur or stand up comedian." Me? I got "adult education".
I had been atravel agent corporate travel consultant for several years, which was no longer fun. As that career course ended I scanned a job ad to Teach the Travel Agents of Tomorrow. I applied. I had an interview/audition. I got the gig. I was an adult educator. Woot!
This meant I was a contractor, and I didn't get paid for prep time. I only worked 25 hours a week, but made as much as I did as a full-time agent. I had afternoons off. It worked for me. But the owner of the school was a harpee, who nickle-dimed us all to death. The only way I could increase my wages would be to get an education credential. My choices were a provincial instructor diploma, or a masters in adult education.
I chose another job, and left teaching. That job lead to another (in research), which led me to be ready to go to grad skool. In adult education. I figured, get a Masters in a year, increase my billable rate, go back to afternoons off. And I already was a university employee so the fees would be waived. Of course my undergraduate grades were mediocre (77%), so I wasn't sure I'd even get in.
I got in. And pretty quickly switched from doing an M Ed (no thesis) to MA (thesis). I found grad skool focussed on--no, celebrated--the ability to give a reasoned, evidenced opinion. They wanted to know what I thought--something no one seemed to want during my BA.
My work ethic is anal explosive: full-on or zzzzz. So I did all my coursework--8 graduate courses--in 6 months (5 in the summer, 3 in the autumn). All I had left was the thesis, so my plan to finish in 1 year was on track. Except I crashed and burned, and didn't get to the thesis for another 9 months. And, just when I started it, I fell off myhog scooter and broke both arms. By then I was fed up and over the whole thing. So I met with one of my profs: I wanted to skip the thesis, get the MEd and get out of dodge. Which meant getting a second "reader" for my final project; she suggested this prof, who was one of my first grad skool teachers. She said "there is no way ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jawnbc isn't doing a thesis--have him fire his current supervisor, we'll take him on and get him through. He shouldbe doing a doctorate."
Oh. I've never been great at saying no to strong women--especially when they're right--so I fired the fella I was working with, hired those two and within a month was nearly done a draft. So we set a deadline of 01 April. A week later a new PhD scholarship was announced for innovative social science research in health and medicine. I asked if I should apply, and they said "sure. when's it due?" 01 April. D'oh!
I figured, why no. So I did both, and got them both in on time. I had about 7 weeks to wait for my thesis defense, and I was supposed to know about the scholarship the week before. I heard nothing, so I sheepishly called the funding agency. "Oh! You're getting a special letter this week or next! You didn't get the scholarship--we got you a super-duper national scholarship with more money!" OK, maybe not those exact words, but that was the gist.
So I had 3 years of salary, plus travel and research money. I'd not yet been admitted to the PhD program (but if you've got $$, and someone willing to work with you, they'll always take you), but that came through pretty soon after.
It wasn't until the last year of my PhD (I actually scored a 4th year of funding, but wanted to get on with my life so I finished in 3), that I sort of seriously considered being a university-based academic.
My undergraduate years, as a continuation of primary and secondary school, were characterized by cynicism about the whole educational enterprise. However I realized that a BA/BSc/BWoteva was gonna be the new Grade 12, so I scurried through. By then I had clearly severed learning from school. I had no career aspirations or focus ("I like working with people. I can drink a whole 24 of beer in about 4 hours."). I continued to read widely.
In 1995 I did one of those "I have no idea what kind of job to get, so long as it's not in the career I've been trapped in for the last decade" courses, thanks to
I had been a
This meant I was a contractor, and I didn't get paid for prep time. I only worked 25 hours a week, but made as much as I did as a full-time agent. I had afternoons off. It worked for me. But the owner of the school was a harpee, who nickle-dimed us all to death. The only way I could increase my wages would be to get an education credential. My choices were a provincial instructor diploma, or a masters in adult education.
I chose another job, and left teaching. That job lead to another (in research), which led me to be ready to go to grad skool. In adult education. I figured, get a Masters in a year, increase my billable rate, go back to afternoons off. And I already was a university employee so the fees would be waived. Of course my undergraduate grades were mediocre (77%), so I wasn't sure I'd even get in.
I got in. And pretty quickly switched from doing an M Ed (no thesis) to MA (thesis). I found grad skool focussed on--no, celebrated--the ability to give a reasoned, evidenced opinion. They wanted to know what I thought--something no one seemed to want during my BA.
My work ethic is anal explosive: full-on or zzzzz. So I did all my coursework--8 graduate courses--in 6 months (5 in the summer, 3 in the autumn). All I had left was the thesis, so my plan to finish in 1 year was on track. Except I crashed and burned, and didn't get to the thesis for another 9 months. And, just when I started it, I fell off my
jawnbc isn't doing a thesis--have him fire his current supervisor, we'll take him on and get him through. He shouldbe doing a doctorate."Oh. I've never been great at saying no to strong women--especially when they're right--so I fired the fella I was working with, hired those two and within a month was nearly done a draft. So we set a deadline of 01 April. A week later a new PhD scholarship was announced for innovative social science research in health and medicine. I asked if I should apply, and they said "sure. when's it due?" 01 April. D'oh!
I figured, why no. So I did both, and got them both in on time. I had about 7 weeks to wait for my thesis defense, and I was supposed to know about the scholarship the week before. I heard nothing, so I sheepishly called the funding agency. "Oh! You're getting a special letter this week or next! You didn't get the scholarship--we got you a super-duper national scholarship with more money!" OK, maybe not those exact words, but that was the gist.
So I had 3 years of salary, plus travel and research money. I'd not yet been admitted to the PhD program (but if you've got $$, and someone willing to work with you, they'll always take you), but that came through pretty soon after.
It wasn't until the last year of my PhD (I actually scored a 4th year of funding, but wanted to get on with my life so I finished in 3), that I sort of seriously considered being a university-based academic.
