Flashes of Panic

I didn’t realize until it was nearly over that I probably sat through my last classes for quite a while today. I’d say “ever,” but that’s a dangerous statement. Assuming I am actually judged to have satisfied the requirements for the Masters degree, they’ll be handing me paper in less than a month. (I am actually turning up to graduation, though there was an option for me to just have the degree mailed to me.)

I am being automagically rolled into the Ph.D. program, but I have had my request for leave (i.e. time away that won’t be counted against my “time to complete the degree”) approved. There’s a chance that in the next year, I’ll decide that I really want to be back in a Ph.D. program in fall ‘08. There’s also a chance that I’ll be struck by lightning. I suppose I’m more likely to decide that I’m cut out for research than be struck by lightning, but not by much.

I’m still reluctant to rule out ever going back to school, but I think it’s more likely to be a part-time sort of thing than another two years of full-time grad school. My grandfather, as I’ve mentioned before, had three masters degrees, so I don’t feel any need to be constrained to a Ph.D. as my only future option.

N.B. There does seem to be some belief that just because I haven’t signed on with a corporation offering health insurance, that I don’t have a “real job” after graduation. This is not the case, of course. And, if you should happen to have a few thousand dollars that you can spare for an almost unquantifiably risky venture, drop me a line.

(What I learned in grad school: how to properly use e.g., i.e. and N.B..)

Now Playing: She’ll Come Back for You Tomorrow from Uninvited, Like the Clouds by The Church

Technorati Tags: computer science, gradschool