Wrecking Your Life

[misspelledgeoff]

In 2004 I quit an extremely well paying corporate job with a nice future to get a Phd. Within 1.5 years I knew it was a terribly wrong decision. In 2006 I went back to the corporate world but haven't been able to get back on track. 6 years later I'm making much less money with much less responsibility with a much dimmer future than when I left in 2004. Woe is me.

[Gary Gibson]

In 2004 I quit an extremely well paying corporate job with a nice future to get a Phd. Within 1.5 years I knew it was a terribly wrong decision. In 2006 I went back to the corporate world but haven't been able to get back on track. 6 years later I'm making much less money with much less responsibility with a much dimmer future than when I left in 2004. Woe is me.

Geoff, do you have the other half to this amulet. I knew within 12-18 months that I'd made a bad move. Despite my extensive experience and good track record in my old field, I'm finding it nigh impossible to get back in. Not sure what to do right now. Woe is we.

[TomF]

There was a reason you left to "follow your bliss" elsewhere. Most people don't leave a high-paying job for a trifle, even if in hindsight they think they made a wrong decision.

Don't minimize the irritant, just because the fallout from leaving has also turned out to be tough. There's got to be a third option here, marrying your skills with what you found appealing enough about a different path to make you choose it. Find that 3rd option.

[misspelledgeoff]

Woe is we is right, my amulet-brother. I am hopeful that the Obam-ony recovering will help. But I am terribly skeptical it will happen anytime soon.

Geoff, do you have the other half to this amulet. I knew within 12-18 months that I'd made a bad move. Despite my extensive experience and good track record in my old field, I'm finding it nigh impossible to get back in. Not sure what to do right now. Woe is we.

[Ian Kovtunovich]

There was a reason you left to "follow your bliss" elsewhere. Most people don't leave a high-paying job for a trifle, even if in hindsight they think they made a wrong decision.

Don't minimize the irritant, just because the fallout from leaving has also turned out to be tough. There's got to be a third option here, marrying your skills with what you found appealing enough about a different path to make you choose it. Find that 3rd option.

Good point there. The grass is rarely as green as it looks from here, and often has dog shit on it.

[gamedog]

I think the best thing I ever learned, with regards to the "Grass is always greener" scenario, is that I just needed to water my own fucking lawn.

I've always been a pessimist, y'know? Everybody's grass looked greener than mine. And who knows, maybe there was just more dog shit on the other side of that fence waiting to get stepped in. Probably was, as, I seemed to land in it every time I jumped the fence. Maybe that's why I was such a cynic. Anyway, one day I figured "Well, maybe I should just start living my life the way it makes sense to me, try not to make decisions today that will make things hard for the person I'll be when I wake up tomorrow, and let all the other chips fall where they may." And that's what I did.

It's worked out pretty well so far.

[ColoWayno]

Thought of you guys when I read this food for thought:
In regards to borrowing for higher ed:

"Buyers see that everyone else is taking on mounds of debt, and so are more comfortable when they do so themselves; besides, for a generation, the value of what they're buying has gone up steadily. What could go wrong? Everything continues smoothly until, at some point, it doesn't."

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op...#ixzz0qEgE8wN6

[LimieJosh]

Thought of you guys when I read this food for thought:
In regards to borrowing for higher ed:

"Buyers see that everyone else is taking on mounds of debt, and so are more comfortable when they do so themselves; besides, for a generation, the value of what they're buying has gone up steadily. What could go wrong? Everything continues smoothly until, at some point, it doesn't."

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op...#ixzz0qEgE8wN6

Anecdotally, I have seen a recent increase in the reliance on adjuncts for teaching, and not just at the undergrad level. If this is more than just an anomalous observation, and is really happening at the institution at which I teach, then it is likely happening across the country, or at least in state funded universities hit with massive financial cut backs. If so, not only is the value of the degree no longer rising, but the quality is decreasing.