tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post8202463541431437337..comments2024-03-10T23:01:51.493-05:00Comments on Stupid Motivational Tricks / Bemsha Swing: DisappointedJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-25231682088806386082012-05-15T15:27:38.134-05:002012-05-15T15:27:38.134-05:00I would just like to chime in here (a bit late) by...I would just like to chime in here (a bit late) by saying two things:<br /><br />1) I love my job. I know that not everyone in my department is happy, but I do work in the kind of place where it is possible to be happy if you learn the ropes and make an effort to be happy.<br /><br />2) I understand that some academics are completely miserable. It is hard to disentangle their misery from their Tanya Golash-Bozahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14299920277816825958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-18840235927575426382012-05-12T10:33:17.318-05:002012-05-12T10:33:17.318-05:00I was responding to the "Horowitz plant"...I was responding to the "Horowitz plant" aspect of that original comment. Hence my harshness. I wouldn't recommend grad school in English to anyone now, but I would recommend Spanish. There are still tenure track jobs, and a reasonable chance at a good career if you can compete in this brutally competitive profession. I'd say it's a hard field if you can't stand Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-77905008950162901682012-05-11T16:03:54.336-05:002012-05-11T16:03:54.336-05:00...and also, I have a student right now who is jus......and also, I have a student right now who is just like that priest in San Manuel Bueno, mártir -- is in graduate school because he first lost faith in church, then in G-d. Yet, he still works as a minister. Has kids, has to. Eventually he will be able to make a career change (one hopes) but for now, he has a job he doesn´t really believe in and yes he is keeping it as long as he needs to (but Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-44870791087047398532012-05-11T16:00:32.920-05:002012-05-11T16:00:32.920-05:00P.S. sorry for double posting - I inadvertently cl...P.S. sorry for double posting - I inadvertently clicked twice!<br /><br />Re comment about person being Horowitz plant - it is that third sentence especially that makes me think so. <br /><br />While it is sort of true in a lot of places ... and I am coming off of having had an essential colleague in related dept. denied tenure for trivial reasons while other less worthy people are supported for Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-1718274217989350032012-05-11T15:48:32.870-05:002012-05-11T15:48:32.870-05:00You seem like a young man because you speak with t...You seem like a young man because you speak with the naive assurance of the uninformed.<br /><br />Something I never enjoy about some people from your kind of institution is that they often:<br /><br />-first, bash people from here for even considering alternative jobs<br />-look away in condescending horror if told why it is that to do so could be the rational thing to do<br />-then visit to Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-23279244844243719512012-05-11T15:48:06.991-05:002012-05-11T15:48:06.991-05:00You seem like a young man because you speak with t...You seem like a young man because you speak with the naive assurance of the uninformed.<br /><br />Something I never enjoy about some people from your kind of institution is that they often:<br /><br />-first, bash people from here for even considering alternative jobs<br />-look away in condescending horror if told why it is that to do so could be the rational thing to do<br />-then visit to Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-65403960435382408302012-05-08T16:04:59.689-05:002012-05-08T16:04:59.689-05:00@He / she imagines some more fulfilling life elsew...@He / she imagines some more fulfilling life elsewhere, even though a tenured professor can do just about anything.@<br /><br />- I have to agree with this. I'm not even a tenured professor yet but already I have four entire months ahead of me to travel, read, work on my research, grow intellectually and personally. This is my time and I will be able to manage it in any way I choose. If I Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-91333186950689299662012-05-07T21:19:23.231-05:002012-05-07T21:19:23.231-05:00I don't see any young men around here.I don't see any young men around here.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-72051052172819353442012-05-07T17:14:50.946-05:002012-05-07T17:14:50.946-05:00Young man, it would be easy to feel as you do work...Young man, it would be easy to feel as you do working at a place like KU. Please realize that things are not always the same. Where I work, also a research university, it is hard to attract job applications for heaven´s sake, because people are not foolish and they know they need certain kinds of resources to function. It takes a huge effort to hire, with gaps of 2 and 3 years in some posts, and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-6996526084325906832012-05-06T09:27:06.855-05:002012-05-06T09:27:06.855-05:00I think "whining loser" is just about ri...I think "whining loser" is just about right, thank you. The person is whining about sacrifices and the lack of rewards, and can't even appreciate the advantages of having a tenured position. He / she imagines some more fulfilling life elsewhere, even though a tenured professor can do just about anything. You have to be a pretty big loser to win and then turn it around in your head Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-43155485758625831702012-05-06T00:15:25.458-05:002012-05-06T00:15:25.458-05:00"My response to someone who can only see the ..."My response to someone who can only see the negative in academia is to get out in order to let one the hundreds of other people who want her tenured job in."<br /><br />- Hear, hear! A person who says "I'm miserable so the entire profession must be stupid and unrewarding" demonstrates very faulty reasoning skills. I wonder if this is not the real reason for this person&#Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-69068242592922693982012-05-05T12:09:23.252-05:002012-05-05T12:09:23.252-05:00"Whining loser" is rather harsh, don'..."Whining loser" is rather harsh, don't you think?<br /><br />The OP states that he/she is a tenured professor, so the "loser" title isn't right: there are plenty of grad students who will graduate and search for tenure track jobs and not find them. (only 50% of English Ph.Ds, for instance, get TT jobs nowadays)<br /><br />And "whining" isn't right, eitherRyan Stuart Lowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16799427691983018249noreply@blogger.com