Posted by Lilly from ? (160.129.27.22) on Monday, June 17, 2002 at 6:16PM :
In Reply to: Re: actually posted by Nahrain from DNab4078e2.Stanford.EDU (171.64.120.226) on Monday, June 17, 2002 at 2:53PM :
That sucks about the head of the poli sci department... Side note: I've basically learned that any time an "academic" from a poli sci or history department him/her outside of a very biased & Western perspective. Experience, listening to them blab their stupid notions in front of impressionable young students, has made me have low expectations of most of the people who "study" these subjects & wish they'd stop speaking, most of the time.
Anyway, I definitely don't think you should let a jerk convince you not to follow your dreams. That's yet one more way that person wields his/her power over you, in your future.
You're young, so you have plenty of time to think about what you want to do - but it seems to me that being in a science grad program can sometimes be discouraging in itself - esp. at times like you mentioned, when you are stuck for hours in lab w/ so little pay-off. I get a bit annoyed with experiments that don't work out, & esp. annoyed with those that take forever & don't work out. But, as discouraged as I can feel, there are also those days when I feel that I've learned something - even if it's just in a class I'm sitting in on or a science journal I'm reading & not in lab - & I feel immensely rewarded. & I believe that science is not limiting in itself - so many times I learn something by reading or listening or acting, I find that it affects my life in many subtle and profound ways. Anyway, time is definitely a factor in making these decisions - esp. when you realize that one day you could have more regular working hours & a slew of underpaid grad students & techs to do the benchwork.
But at the same time, I can definitely understand that feeling like you're missing out on something can be enough, sometimes, to cause you to change what you're doing if you have the power to do so.
I tend to agree with Jeff about law, though. I've known a few "good" ex-lawyers - parents of my friends - most of them got discouraged after watching their colleagues... & I definitely agree with Jeff that it's not so bad to be confused, either. Actually, I don't think anyone ever grows out of it. Anyway, it's good to know you have interests outside of science - I always take that to be a sign of health!
-- Lilly
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