Why am I still in school and taking out tens of thousands of dollars in loans for a Master’s degree I may or may not need? Also, the college decided to drop me as a TA for no particular reason, atleast no reason I can think of. I got hired on as a TA because the previous TA for a class was not doing his duties. I come in during the middle of the semester and catch up on all the work and do a pretty decent job the rest of the semester. How do they repay me? By just dropping me from my job! Actually, under the system, they can do that, since students are generally commissioned semester by semester basis, but typically, most students are kept on unless they basically don’t give a crap about you, which is I guess my case. To add insult, the TA I took over for, the one who couldn’t do his job, still has a job. @$%@!%, what is the deal with that? It’s not so much the money that I’m mad about, it’s how they basically treat me like I’m worthless. Other students I’ve talked to are taken care of good of if you are in good with the teachers, administrators or whatnot. I’ve never felt so worthless in my life.
I have a bachelor’s degree yes, but the job market has been very bad (Yes, I looked for a job). I feel like I spent $30000 and six years on a piece of paper. I thought graduate school would be a good avenue to persue. I had MANY people tell me “Undergrad ok, but once you get into grad school, you’ll start doing exciting stuff. Plus, they’ll basically pay you to go to school here!” or “It’s only two more years, it’ll give you a leg up on the rest with just bachelors”. Ok, then why do I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything? I’m taking the same old classes. I haven’t gotten anywhere with my research for my thesis. Why am I here when I should be looking for a job and making money? Someone tell me please that I’m not wasting my time.
See, your problem is that you’re getting a Masters. That’s what, two years? Not nearly enough time – you have to focus on the goal the whole time. What you need to do is get a PhD. Then you can settle in for the long haul and just enjoy yourself, because you know you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
I realize you’re probably looking for a place to vent, not advice – but have you tried talking to the people responsible for re-hiring (or not re-hiring) TAs to find out why you were dropped? If you phrase it in a nice, non-confrontational way, you just might find yourself with a job – and at worst, you’ll at least get some insight into why you weren’t hired again, which may help you next time you’re looking for a job. Hey, it’s not like you can make yourself even more unemployed, even if you piss someone off, so you may as well try to get some feedback.
Actual Fretful I already sent an email to the people in charge. Unfortunately, I didn’t ask in a too nice of a manner. It was pretty much a “f-you, how could you do this to me” thing. Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m probably the least likely person to get angry, so you can probably can tell I was pretty angry. I’ll admit some of the issues I have is not their fault, such as school in general and not too mention my life in general, but them doing that pretty much was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I really had to vent. I really not looking for a job from them since this semester is pretty much my last one. I’ll be looking for a “real” job after this semester and working on my thesis in my spare time.
My personal feeling is that you shouldn’t pursue a graduate degree unless you know what you want to get it in, and why. It’s not really a good place to mark time in a bad job market unless you were planning to be in grad school anyway.
I know, this advice comes two years too late. Sorry about that.
I’m sorry you’re so unhappy. College should be the best time of your life. It’s your last hurrah before the crushing weight of job/family/responsibility/mortgage decends upon you. It’s a chance to broaden your mind, learn new things, meet new people, and try new experiences.
Trust me, though, that piece of paper may really help you out someday. My husband got his job because of his master’s degree. He has a lot of embittered co-workers who cannot advance as far as they’d like because they have “only” a bachelor’s degree. They end up taking night classes at our local branch campus, and holding down a full-time job as well. It’s not easy once you’ve been out in the “real world” to go back to school.
Grad school is arduous, but I think, in the long run, you’ll be glad you stuck it out.
If your thesis is not going well, perhaps you should try a new topic. Or, reverse your opinion on the original idea, and research conflicting opinions, which might help you get your original idea across. Just a suggestion. Out of curiosity, what are you writing about?
I second Lissa’s question…What are you studying and what are you writing about?
Have you tried to talk to the profs on your comittee? They can be invaluable as far as understanding why you lost your TAship and/or helping you to find another position. That having been said I do not find it hard to believe that your “how the fuck can you do this to me” email was not answered. Try a little more thoughtful (direct, yet polite) dialogue. You say that others in your program are “in” with the profs and admins–Maybe ask them for advise??
Well I never received a reply from them, but I received a reply from my boss, the professor I’m TA’ing for, offering a job to me…odd timing eh? :rolleyes: Anyways, I’m not sure how to respond. I would very much like this job as I need the money and I like TA’ing, but I’m still very soured by the experience. I hate being the person who just bitches then gets their way to shut them up. That’s just not my style and I look down on people who do that, but that looks like the situation I’m in.
When I first wrote to them, I wrote to them when I was angry and depressed, which isn’t the very best mindset when writing. Now that I’m calm (calmer atleast) I do regret some of the things I wrote (nothing bad, but the tone was not nice). It would feel weird to me taking the job and knowing that the people I wrote to would see me once in awhile.
What kind of advice can anyone give me? I would like to speak with the people involve if I could. I know one of the persons is a student advisor and she is a very nice person. It would ease my mind. Should I take job or snub it for pride’s sake?
Oh, to answer the question Talluleh and Lissa posted: I’m studying Computer Science and it’s tentatively about IPSec Tunneling and Distributed DoS. The thesis problem is not really a problem at the moment, just one of a list of things I have to worry about. I figure I’ll have time to work on it this semester or over the summer.
Just one little thing - I for one think it would be pretty fucking depressing if college were the best time of your life.
Sure would make it a bummer waking up every morning for the next 40-60 years or so.
I had a lot of fun in college. And I had a lot of fun when I was just out of college. I’m having a pretty good time right now aged 42 with a wife and 3 kids. And I intend to enjoy myself when I retire.
Sounds like you got dicked over in the TA department.
And sounds like you reacted pretty immaturely.
I hope you learn something from your present experiences/circumstances, and I hope losing your TA is the worst thing to happen to you in your life.
Though you did not ask my advice, in my opinion you would be an idiot to not take the job you have been offered.
I wouldn’t assume that. Maybe the fact that you weren’t offered the job initially was an oversight. (You said that you had taken over the job mid-semester from someone else, so perhaps your name just didn’t make it “into the system.”) In any case, you wouldn’t be offered the job if the prof didn’t think you were qualified, no matter how much you bitched about it.
It’s work you like, and you need the money. Go for it.
I have to register my disagreement with this as well. I busted my ass to pay for college myself. When I finally graduated, I was very relieved to only have ONE major responsibility: getting a job to pay the bills. I no longer had homework, term papers, classes, reading AND work to attend to. And now, ten years later, I still do not have a family nor a mortgage. The “crushing weight” of job and responsibility, frankly, has been preferable to school.
In regard to the OP: just take the damn job. I doubt if anyone will recognize your e-mail and associate you with its negative tone. Finally, while you may look down on the squeaky wheel types, if you can find a way to get over that you may find that being the squeaky wheel in this situation was just really good training for Real Life.
I’m in grad school right now. But I went one step further and decided to get my Ph.D straight out of my college.
I like it overall, but sometimes–like now–there are moments when I get so stressed and sad that I actually get depressed. Grad school is hell; it ain’t supposed to be pleasurable. Every time I find myself feeling happy, I get sad because I know the feeling is fleeting.
Seriously though, I would do what you have to do, and contact that professor. Hooking up with him/her may not only help you financially, but they may be able to advise you on your project. Maybe teaching will jog your brain with ideas and inspiration.
Just in case you’re starting to feel better about things, let me toss this out.
Got a job right after graduation (BS in Accounting) with a local company so I didn’t have to move. Shortly after starting work a University came to our Community College and offered a weekend MBA program. My company offered to send me and pick up the whol tab. Of course I took them up on it. When it was all over I sold my books and actually made a $600 profit on it. Quit the good folks that paid for it all and took a job making 50% more.
I would take the job. For the sake of your pride, I would write back and thank them for helping you. I would also apologize for the tone of your original email, and explain that you were just surprised and upset by finding yourself without a job.
I don’t think the tone of your email had anything to do with you getting that job. I think that your department probably tries to support their graduate students, and once they found out you had been left unsupported, looked around for alternatives. I’m also quite certain they’re used to getting emails like yours – grad students are often stressed, and can have poor social skills.
Don’t quit now – you’ve come too far to give up now.
Hey, in the long run everyone is dead. I want my instant gratification NOW!!
I just thought I would thow this out there as well. Getting an advanced degree does not give you a “leg up” over the BS/BAs. It places you in a higher tier where you are competing with other Masters or PhDs.
I totally disagree with this statement. I am pursuing a Masters Degree because the position I’d like requires it. So yes, it gives me a “leg up” because undergrads won’t even be considered for the position. I’m sure there are many fields with education requirements such as this.
What you are saying in essence could be applied to any level of education. For example, getting a high-school diploma does not give you a “leg up” over the drop-outs because it places you in a higher tier with other high-school graduates. Ridiculous.
I not really sure what’s the deal at the moment. I think I have a job, but I have to speak with one of the committee members next week. The person who found the job for me was my boss not the committee, so now I have no idea if the job is related to me sending that email. (There are some other details that suggest that they may not be related but I’ll find out next week).
Ya, I know I acted pretty bad with my email to them (Reading it now sounds like a broken record, it’s pretty whiney), but I really don’t regret emailing something…I always let things slide and I hate myself for that. I was just fed up.
I realized that they may have overlooked me, but I felt like they overlooked me the whole time I was a TA. I understand I got hired on halfway thru the semester, so I can see them overlooking me on certain details, but it still doesn’t make me feel any better.
Also, I might add that it was my birthday the day I wrote the letter, so I was just pissed that my b-day wasn’t happy at all, so I took it out on them a bit.
Anyways, thanks for the advice. I am going to talk with them next week. I’m calm now and I’m pretty much resigned now to whatever they decide, job or no job.
That’s not exactly what I meant. It’s true that each progressive level of education creates more opportunities for you. The point I was trying to make was that at each level you are no longer in teh same pool of aplicants as the level before you. For example, my masters degree does not give me a leg up over the high school grads applying at McDonalds. I am competing for jobs against other candidates with masters degrees. Yes, undergrads might not even be considered, but now I am competing against other candidates, all with similar credentials.
