Am experiencing the pre-semester slump… those days when I really wish I were done with school and/or had never gone back to school to begin with, and could just find a well-paying job with decent hours 😦 . Have I mentioned that I am so over school? I am. I have been since I was completing my last program. It’s the reason I scoff when people ask why I don’t just go for my PhD. I just think, Why? Why would I want to torture myself with another useless degree? Because happy-go-lucky though I may seem, I realize that I will probably be over-qualified/over-educated and under-paid for many years to come. If you are considering graduate school as a way of improving your career potential… don’t. At least, don’t unless you really love it and are willing to pay the price of loans (unless you luck out and get a free or mostly free ride… I did the first two times. It’s the third that’s killing me), and the prospect of job hunting in a non-existent market.
Don’t get me wrong; I loved the process of getting my MA in English… I just wish there were jobs to warrant the time I’ve spent in school. I have no idealistic ideas about saving the world through reading by getting my MLIS. I am doing this purely because I had no other prospects and libraries will not hire you as a librarian unless you have an ALA-approved library degree. I wish it weren’t so, but if I want to remain in an academic environment and not teach, library school it is. 4 more classes to go. 2 semesters (counting the one that I am currently dreading). I like my classes. I like my classmates. I just wish I didn’t have so many doubts regarding the future and the possibility that I may one day have to change careers again… or fall back on my English degree and go into education. Anyone looking for a part-time editor/writer/researcher?
marginalia and such 