Comments on Clio Bluestocking Tales: Good for Them and This Place

Great post. My ex-department did a very similar th...

2007-04-09T22:27:00.000-04:00

Great post. My ex-department did a very similar thing in awarding TA's. They awarded TA's to a bunch of Masters students (I was one of them). Only in our case it goes like this, and if I may, I'll modify your own words.

International students were lured to the school with a promise of TA funding only to have that position not renewed for next year. Or a subtle threat not to. This left them with a large tuition to pay. This enabled the professors to arm twist the students into staying there for a Ph.D. If a Masters student expressed a desire to go to another program for a Ph.D., it was always easy for the professors to dodge the subject of writing letters of recommendation or not writing them at all. Or be evasive when a student asks about performance evaluations.

That being said there were a couple of fine upstanding professors who did act in their student's interest i.e. helping their career along, and generally being fair to them.

I'm so bitter about it at times, that I don't understand why I ever had the desire to become a technical immigrant.
Oh, I know. The lure or the Dollar and the good (better) life. It all seems so worthless. What makes it even more bitter is I had no idea of what the game was and how it was played.

-Depresso

P.S. The other good thing about your friend gettin...

2007-03-13T14:21:00.000-04:00

P.S. The other good thing about your friend getting the writing gig is also: Yea! He got a writing gig!

Claire, the good thing about helping your friend g...

2007-03-13T14:19:00.000-04:00

Claire, the good thing about helping your friend get a paid gig is that, eventually, he may be able to help you do the same. Babu and I did that for a while for each other. I knew people to whom I recommended him for a job. Then he knew people who could help me get a job. So, it also has material benefits along with the altruism and the not feeling all bogged down by jealousy and resentment at the people who help you through the general atmosphere of anger and resentment.

Clio,Thanks for sharing that story. I think you s...

2007-03-13T11:55:00.000-04:00

Clio,
Thanks for sharing that story. I think you speak to a sort of universal truth applicable far beyond academia. It is so easy to fall prey to the idea that one person's accomplishments translate into another person's failure. I found myself thinking like that last night when I got the news that an acquaintance got a paid writing gig. I felt jealous and resentful, because I was the one who initially sort of gave him the idea to start writing, and I thought I was a better writer-- and here he gets a paid gig within six months and I have been writing for free for years. So your post really resonated with me-- and I think that it's important to remember that there are NOT finite resources in terms of success. Keep up the good posting!

Thanks, I might need it!

2007-03-12T20:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks, I might need it!

That's horrible, thinking girl. No wonder you want...

2007-03-12T11:06:00.000-04:00

That's horrible, thinking girl. No wonder you want out.

I think there are people like this in every profession, and they just poison one another. It's so much easier to just be happy for one another and help one another when the opportunity arises. You don't feel so mucky, everyone benefits, and you aren't always looking over your shoulder. And I say that as a confirmed misanthropist!

Good luck surviving the next 6 months!

boy, can I ever relate to this post! for the past ...

2007-03-12T02:36:00.000-04:00

boy, can I ever relate to this post! for the past 12 years, I've worked in what I think has got to be the nastiest, most back-stabbing, competitive, back-breaking, horrible career: the professional (and I use that term loosely) beauty industry. almost all (I'd say 90%) of the colleagues I have worked with over these years have done everything they could to undermine one another: lied, stolen clients, gossipped viciously, stolen implements, manipulated, pretended to be friends and then stab people in the back, cheated at anything they could, stole from their employers, misrepresented themselves, belittled and intimidated, and even verbally abused their co-workers. Any small success, like taking an advanced course in some service or doing really well in retail sales, was met with exactly the kind of attitude you described - like their little flame was going to be snuffed out by someone else's. Just complete jealousy and not a stitch of integrity.

the very few people I've met in this industry who aren't like that are a breath of fresh air. they are so rare: those who will go out of their way to help you, who will actually praise your successes and even recommend their own clients to see you, who will do training with you to help you improve yourself professionally, who will never have anything negative to say about anyone. And you know what? these are always the most successful people. an air of professional generosity and respect goes a long way!

i sure can't wait to get the heck out of this insanity! 6 more months...

Everyone should know Babu! Actually, if you ever s...

2007-03-10T10:04:00.000-05:00

Everyone should know Babu! Actually, if you ever see the reruns of the game show Jeapordy, you might come across him. He won on it back in 2001.

Ah, grad school: the agony and the ecstacy, that is for sure! Groening's bit about the "Bitterest Person in the World" kept me going on my dissertation.

Sounds like it was grad school hell for a while th...

2007-03-10T07:42:00.000-05:00

Sounds like it was grad school hell for a while there. I'm glad it got better-- good for Babu et al.

Groening is just about right in that cartoon, but I still miss it (grad school) sometimes.