Some time ago, I mentioned to someone that at least one of the professors at the local university campus had, prior to becoming a professor and teaching people about a field in which I work, held jobs in that field quite similar to my own.
She responded by enthusiastically encouraging me to become a professor too.
Honestly, though, I don't see it happening, for a few reasons.
Firstly, I can count all my college credits without running out of fingers.
Secondly, I am not known for my rigorous pursuit of academic excellence.
And finally, professors in this university system tend to be at the top of the field.
A quick read of the graduate faculty shows that we are blessed with quite a few graduates of places like Berkeley, CalTech, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Cambridge, and so on. There are only two people on the graduate faculty lacking PhD's - a librarian and a computer person.
The odds of me getting a PhD at all are slim, and the odds of me getting one from a school of as good repute as those listed above are, well, basically none.
So... I could take several years of my life and work on getting degrees, probably from some lesser school, and wind up as a professor, almost certainly at some little backwater college.
Or... I could stay where I am, maybe try to advance a little here and there, but remain a low-profile if somewhat vital cog in the works of a program that's widely regarded as one of the top 5 in this field, worldwide.
Fancy papers with my name on them versus being surrounded by the best and the brightest, with all the shiny toys?
The choice seems obvious to me.
Firstly, I can count all my college credits without running out of fingers.
Secondly, I am not known for my rigorous pursuit of academic excellence.
And finally, professors in this university system tend to be at the top of the field.
A quick read of the graduate faculty shows that we are blessed with quite a few graduates of places like Berkeley, CalTech, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Cambridge, and so on. There are only two people on the graduate faculty lacking PhD's - a librarian and a computer person.
The odds of me getting a PhD at all are slim, and the odds of me getting one from a school of as good repute as those listed above are, well, basically none.
So... I could take several years of my life and work on getting degrees, probably from some lesser school, and wind up as a professor, almost certainly at some little backwater college.
Or... I could stay where I am, maybe try to advance a little here and there, but remain a low-profile if somewhat vital cog in the works of a program that's widely regarded as one of the top 5 in this field, worldwide.
Fancy papers with my name on them versus being surrounded by the best and the brightest, with all the shiny toys?
The choice seems obvious to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks,