Acadmic Uncertainty

So here is the deal and the reason why I find life so frustrating sometimes. Between my undergraduate, two masters and Ph.D. degrees, I have spent roughly 15 years of my life in engaged in higher education. Aside from the time commitment, which you must admit is hefty, there is an accompanying financial commitment to Uncle Sam. So one would think that with this type of self-investment, I would be in a great position to find the job of my dreams and live happily ever ater.

The sad part of the story is that is simply not the case. Academia engenders an incredible amount of uncertainty, in spite of a person's skills and training. What I mean is simply this; If a "normal" person wants to live in San Francisco, Portland, Boston, wherever, they can go move there and try to make a living. This is a luxury that academics do not have. If you know me, you know that there is nothing more that I would like then to move back to Oregon and live in Portland. But I don't have that flexibility, at least not as an academic.

This is just grumbling, but it is worth reflecting on. 15 years of your life and thousands of dollars of dept just for the privilege of having no control over your life. Seems a bit of a raw deal to me.

Anyway, thanks for listening and remember, without evil there can be no good.