I’ve mentioned several times that I’m an engineer. Somehow I have no problem stating that in this forum, but in some situations, either RL or random chat, people react to that as if intimidated. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned my alma mater here, and I’m reluctant to do so under most circumstances for the same reason – people tend to treat me according to some preconceived stereotype or something. Similarly, I rarely volunteer what my Navy rank was when I got out. Of course, on those occasions when some braggart starts name-dropping or credential-dropping, I may play the game just to let him/her know where I come from… I’m kinda childish that way.
I don’t think I’m an intimidating person, and I don’t want to be labeled by titles or diplomas. I prefer to be judged by how well I do my job and how well I play with others. It’s not like I’m the only graduate from said university or the first or the top. And I certainly don’t consider myself to be God’s gift to engineering. I don’t think it’s false modesty – it’s really not a big deal to me.
How about you? Is it important that everyone knows you’re a graduate of University of Whatnot with a string of degrees from here to next Tuesday? Do you have subtle ways of slipping your job title into conversations (…and he said to me “I don’t care if you are the chief surgeon…”) Are your GPA or SAT scores common knowledge? And how do you react to people who ensure you know their resume? (BTW, this was triggered because I was thinking about a former coworker, an engineering graduate of WV Tech, who was embarrassed about his alma mater – so much so that he wore his father’s Univ of Florida ring.)
ICK – that last paragraph sounds snotty, and that’s not what I intended. What I wonder is how important you think credentials are after you’ve got the job/position/grant/starring role/whatever… Does there ever come a point where one is accepted for one’s track record? And how does one identify that point?