Tuesday, September 12, 2006
An Impostor in the Shire?
Today was New Graduate Student Orientation Day at Old Ivy University which meant for the first time since September I had an actual "work-related" event to attend. So after rousing myself at 8:30 and showering during what would have been first period at Underwood, I slouched over towards one of the larger auditoriums on campus to get officially oriented to the world in which I now live.
After a short brunch, the graduate student community filed into their seats. Apparently, it takes a staggeringly large number of people to keep the ivory tower running smoothly, and the heads of every branch of that hierarchy were arrayed on stage when we arrived. What's more, they all wanted to share with us their personal wisdom on how best to navigate graduate student life. The dean of the graduate school started off with statistics...the usual stuff about how many people got in (1127), how many applied (8600), how many actually decided to enroll after getting in (580) and so forth. He pointed out the diversity of the student body (40% from other countries!) and wished us luck as we embarked on this new phase in our educational careers. It was precisely what was expected, but at least it was quick and to the point.
The head of graduate admissions then followed, and in a slightly longer speech gave the following 5 hints to success as a graduate student:
The remainder of the administrative speeches were eminently unmemorable. The deans of student life and budget affairs got up and spoke, but don't ask me for specific details regarding content...my eyes glazed over halfway through the former's speech and I started browsing through the packet of papers they gave us upon entering the building. The student health plan's staff showed up to answer medical questions and advertise their nice large psychiatric wing. (Room for one more...)
The only other thing of note from the entire assembly was the chair of graduate student government's speech comparing graduate school to the Lord of the Rings. It was a rather overextended metaphor, but an apt one nonetheless. Apparently right now, I'm living in "The Shire", a tranquil place filled with friendly faces and very little peril. But soon enough, I will be confronted with "orcs" and "goblins" and "research papers" that will hinder my travels. Occasionally I will make new allies and meet strange creatures like Nobel laureates (met one later that day!) who will help inspire me as I move towards my ultimate goal...Mt. Doom? Is getting a Ph.D. the equivalent of setting up shop in the evil realm of Mordor? Is it likely to be filled with pain and despiar and sorrow and trolls? Will it all be worthwhile in the end? I'm not sure if the metaphor works perfectly, but it captured somewhat the exotic and strange nature of the journey I'm about to be taking, and I feel I'll look back on it in coming years and wonder how far along I've come in my journey.
Is finishing general exams the equivalent of surviving a siege? How far away will my travels take me? And am I even worthy to carry this burden after all?
The only way to know for sure is to set off on the journey. Classes start soon. More tales will surely follow.
Today was New Graduate Student Orientation Day at Old Ivy University which meant for the first time since September I had an actual "work-related" event to attend. So after rousing myself at 8:30 and showering during what would have been first period at Underwood, I slouched over towards one of the larger auditoriums on campus to get officially oriented to the world in which I now live.
After a short brunch, the graduate student community filed into their seats. Apparently, it takes a staggeringly large number of people to keep the ivory tower running smoothly, and the heads of every branch of that hierarchy were arrayed on stage when we arrived. What's more, they all wanted to share with us their personal wisdom on how best to navigate graduate student life. The dean of the graduate school started off with statistics...the usual stuff about how many people got in (1127), how many applied (8600), how many actually decided to enroll after getting in (580) and so forth. He pointed out the diversity of the student body (40% from other countries!) and wished us luck as we embarked on this new phase in our educational careers. It was precisely what was expected, but at least it was quick and to the point.
The head of graduate admissions then followed, and in a slightly longer speech gave the following 5 hints to success as a graduate student:
- 1. Learn all the requirements of the program. Common sense, but still worthwhile advice.
- 2. Avoid "impostor syndrome." I'll get back to this one in a moment.
- 3. Plan strategically. This one sort of works with #1.
- 4. Find allies and advocates. The secret to every academic success story...NETWORKING!
- 5. Enjoy! Well...ok, then. That beats my original plan of hating my life and everything connected with it.
The remainder of the administrative speeches were eminently unmemorable. The deans of student life and budget affairs got up and spoke, but don't ask me for specific details regarding content...my eyes glazed over halfway through the former's speech and I started browsing through the packet of papers they gave us upon entering the building. The student health plan's staff showed up to answer medical questions and advertise their nice large psychiatric wing. (Room for one more...)
The only other thing of note from the entire assembly was the chair of graduate student government's speech comparing graduate school to the Lord of the Rings. It was a rather overextended metaphor, but an apt one nonetheless. Apparently right now, I'm living in "The Shire", a tranquil place filled with friendly faces and very little peril. But soon enough, I will be confronted with "orcs" and "goblins" and "research papers" that will hinder my travels. Occasionally I will make new allies and meet strange creatures like Nobel laureates (met one later that day!) who will help inspire me as I move towards my ultimate goal...Mt. Doom? Is getting a Ph.D. the equivalent of setting up shop in the evil realm of Mordor? Is it likely to be filled with pain and despiar and sorrow and trolls? Will it all be worthwhile in the end? I'm not sure if the metaphor works perfectly, but it captured somewhat the exotic and strange nature of the journey I'm about to be taking, and I feel I'll look back on it in coming years and wonder how far along I've come in my journey.
Is finishing general exams the equivalent of surviving a siege? How far away will my travels take me? And am I even worthy to carry this burden after all?
The only way to know for sure is to set off on the journey. Classes start soon. More tales will surely follow.
