Thoughts on Academia versus "Real Life"

[Alphathree33]

In high school, I was a smart nerd with the top average in my graduating class.

In University, I lost all interest in studying and academia. My grades dropped but my quality of life went through the roof. And I don't just mean late-night drunken partying. I learned to be social. I dated cute girls. I learned new skills -- athletic and "active" skills, not book-worm stuff.

Now I'm about to graduate and get a full-time job that pays well and will be challenging and rewarding (I've worked at this company as an intern.)

A lot of my friends stayed on the academic "track", if you will. They kept studying, they did research work, they joined academic-style university clubs. They're study-geek-aholics, basically.

I personally feel that I have _GROWN_ since high school. I did the academic thing, I was good at it, but it didn't make me happy. So I tried the social/athletic thing despite being in an engineering program, and it did wonders for my happiness.

I look at my friends who stayed in the academic track and wonder who got the better end of the stick.

For those of you with more life experience, do you think I will look back and wish I had an 85% GPA instead of a 75%? Or do you think I will be happy that I didn't waste my youth in a library cubicle?

 

[DaShen]

School is so much better! I guarantee. Unless you are doing exactly what you want to do in life, and you love your job, you will miss school.

 

[Alphathree33]

Originally posted by: DaShen
School is so much better! I guarantee. Unless you are doing exactly what you want to do in life, and you love your job, you will miss school.

I agree that undergraduate life is awesome, but all of the grad students I know are miserable. I'm happy to be going to work.

 

[FoBoT]

for 99%+ of people that are ten plus years into their careers, GPA is meaningless

 

[slsmnaz]

You will be very happy because you will have a more well-rounded life. Everything you should learn in college is not found in a book or classroom.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: DaShen
School is so much better! I guarantee. Unless you are doing exactly what you want to do in life, and you love your job, you will miss school.

I agree that undergraduate life is awesome, but all of the grad students I know are miserable. I'm happy to be going to work.

That happiness will last about 2 months. The "real world" is a definite downgrade from the disneyland that is college. You'll be glad you enjoyed college, and your GPA won't matter, but unless you have a particularly satisfying job, you'll be in the same rut as everyone else.

 

[Alphathree33]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: DaShen
School is so much better! I guarantee. Unless you are doing exactly what you want to do in life, and you love your job, you will miss school.

I agree that undergraduate life is awesome, but all of the grad students I know are miserable. I'm happy to be going to work.

That happiness will last about 2 months. THe "real world" is a definite downgrade from the disneyland that is college.

Okay. This is a bit off-topic for the question I was asking. I was not asking "Is work better than school?"

I was asking, "Is a higher GPA more valuable than a broad-base of non-academic skills and higher happiness factor?" (or something like that.)

 

[halik]

I hope to go back really soon, real world has been a disappointment so far.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
for 99%+ of people that are ten plus years into their careers, GPA is meaningless

QFT, but school is more than just GPA. It is about the active learning that you do that whole time and being challenged. Unless your job fulfills that in your life, which most of the time it doesn't, it will be just a paycheck to you. All of the people that I knwo that graduated and got good jobs, only a few of them really love what they do and wouldn't even consider going back to school anytime soon.

Out of those people that I know that love what they do, most of those people got doctorates of some type. It is because they knew they really wanted to do something and worked hard to attain that goal, so they are content with what they are doing.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: DaShen
School is so much better! I guarantee. Unless you are doing exactly what you want to do in life, and you love your job, you will miss school.

I agree that undergraduate life is awesome, but all of the grad students I know are miserable. I'm happy to be going to work.

That happiness will last about 2 months. THe "real world" is a definite downgrade from the disneyland that is college.

Okay. This is a bit off-topic for the question I was asking. I was not asking "Is work better than school?"

I was asking, "Is a higher GPA more valuable than a broad-base of non-academic skills and higher happiness factor?" (or something like that.)

No GPA doesn't matter after the first real career job. Anybody probably could have told you that, but I do guarantee that you will miss school, and chances are (unless your friends were coerced by someone <parents> to choose their graduate program) you friends will probably be more satisfied with their work than you later on in life.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: DaShen
School is so much better! I guarantee. Unless you are doing exactly what you want to do in life, and you love your job, you will miss school.

I agree that undergraduate life is awesome, but all of the grad students I know are miserable. I'm happy to be going to work.

That happiness will last about 2 months. THe "real world" is a definite downgrade from the disneyland that is college.

Okay. This is a bit off-topic for the question I was asking. I was not asking "Is work better than school?"

I was asking, "Is a higher GPA more valuable than a broad-base of non-academic skills and higher happiness factor?" (or something like that.)

Just a cold dose of reality is all. You speak as if the race is over, and you've won, because you had a good time in college. While grad school isn't nearly as pleasureable as getting a steady paycheck, and grad school may be more boring academic work, after it's all said and done, they'll probably be the ones that are better off than you.

So to answer your question directly: A broad base of non-academic skills is good, GPA isn't a big deal, and you might be happier now, but they'll probably be happier later.

 

[PrinceofWands]

There is no one truth about anything anywhere for anyone. Everyone is different. Sounds like you found what worked for you, which means you can be happy. It's mostly when we try to fulfill the desires/opinions/expectations of others that we become unhappy.

 

[Sheepathon]

Where are you working?

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
There is no one truth about anything anywhere for anyone. Everyone is different. Sounds like you found what worked for you, which means you can be happy. It's mostly when we try to fulfill the desires/opinions/expectations of others that we become unhappy.

Yeah, I guess that is true. But I have been reading a book on figuring out your skillset, and it said that 70% of the American population that works are disatisfied with what they are doing.

 

[chambersc]

Life's what you make it, OP. There is no "better end of the stick" there are merely different sticks.

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
There is no one truth about anything anywhere for anyone. Everyone is different. Sounds like you found what worked for you, which means you can be happy. It's mostly when we try to fulfill the desires/opinions/expectations of others that we become unhappy.

Yeah, I guess that is true. But I have been reading a book on figuring out your skillset, and it said that 70% of the American population that works are disatisfied with what they are doing.

That's because they're not doing what they want to do, they're doing what they're told they have to or should do (and also because America is transitioning from meaningful pursuits to service industry jobs and a host of other associated ills). Do what you love and adjust your lifestyle accordingly, not the other way around - unless your lifestyle IS what you love.

And don't expect to figure it all out within a timeframe. Everyone develops on their own schedule. I'm 34 and just in the last few years realized I needed to stop working jobs and get back into school because learning is one of only two things I've ever really enjoyed (and no one is going to pay me to do the other).

 

[rgwalt]

I just finished my PhD in chemical engineering. I have two job offers from different parts of the same major petroleum company (think of the biggest one in the US), and I'm waiting to hear on two different jobs from another major petroleum company. My current jobs offer has me at just under six figures.

Grad school sucked, but I wasn't a total slave, and I wasn't miserable most of the time. Grad school afforded me more free time than a real-world job could have, and as a result I met a lot of new friends and branched out BOTH socially and academically. The dirty secret is that once you start a job, especially in a technical field, chances are that you aren't going to meet many people outside of work. Most of the friends and dating interests will be people at work, or people you connect through work. Unless many of your current friends will be in the geographical area where you start your job, you will have a hard time being as social as you were in college. The reason is that you won't live in a dorm and you won't have classes where you are meeting a fresh set of people every so often. There are SO MANY opportunities to interact with new people in college... you almost have to, and you'd be a total hermit not to. However, I think that you'll find in the real world you won't have near as many opportunities. So, my recommendation is get involved with as many social opportunities as possible, including clubs and sports teams both inside and outside of work. Join a gym and try to meet people there.

Your friends that joined academic clubs and focused on research simply met a different set of friends. Maybe you feel like your life is better, and thats fine. It probably is better for you. I know that I made some of the best friends of my life in grad school and I wouldn't make the choice not to go if I could do it all again.

Just don't kid yourself that you are such a much better situation than your bookwormish friends

R

 

[homercles337]

Go to grad school in a female dominated area and TA as much as possible. I still have dreams about those days when the cute young chics would show up at office hours telling me how they HAVE to get a good grade. Offer up some one-on-one tutoring and BANG! Damn, this gets me thinking that i should offer to teach something at harvard or mit.

 

[LS20]

real world work pays more than academic work

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: LS20
real world work pays more than academic work

Only true at most levels, not all. And only important if income is an important factor in your life, which it isn't for everyone.