tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post3469729558676975688..comments2024-02-25T05:24:24.948-05:00Comments on Beyond Easy: The Aesthetics of AlienationPatrick Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-5512246042257075422017-07-15T01:52:51.026-04:002017-07-15T01:52:51.026-04:00Maybe. But I have no formal background whatsoever ...Maybe. But I have no formal background whatsoever in sociology, psychology, or political science. I doubt any respectable master's program would be eager to sign on a mere dabbler, even a fairly competent one.<br /><br />The kind of writing that makes me REALLY happy is fiction. I just never post it here. A blog like this is a lousy venue for it.<br /><br />Getting it published is, well, hit-or-miss, and much more often miss than hit. What rankles me is that even if an MFA program didn't actually improve my writing, just being able to mention in a cover letter that I'm a graduate of such-and-such program and know such-and-such people would drastically improve my chances of having my work accepted. Sigh.Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-46650857783055106162017-07-11T02:20:04.323-04:002017-07-11T02:20:04.323-04:00beechleavesold(AAAAT)gmail.com
bring 'em on.beechleavesold(AAAAT)gmail.com<br /><br />bring 'em on.Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-43258021875738897422017-07-10T14:01:21.020-04:002017-07-10T14:01:21.020-04:00You probably won't be able to snag a tenure-tr...You probably won't be able to snag a tenure-track academic gig with an MA, yeah. But there are plenty of opportunities out there if you forego the academy for industry. Some that are even pretty lucrative--private school teaching, test prep companies, &c. And I wouldn't be worried about being a decade or so out of college; the ages of students in Master's programs vary so much. <br /><br />Also, do you have an e-mail I could hit you up at? I've got some adoring and annoying Zeroes fanboy questions.RPWhartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11629849273892262754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-14565435992822564802017-07-09T19:16:50.161-04:002017-07-09T19:16:50.161-04:00You do seem like you'd be good at something re...You do seem like you'd be good at something research oriented. I would have assumed something like Psychology or Sociology or even Political Science more than English if you did go back, given your writing. Probably could leverage your blog too.<br /><br />Not that I'm advising one way or the other. Jobs and debt are a real concern, as is the politics and in-fighting that goes with getting published and finding work for a PhD. It just seems like the kind of writing that makes you happy, and a world that you'd probably thrive in.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05987869725466688830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-40265035683969079462017-07-08T02:38:30.940-04:002017-07-08T02:38:30.940-04:00I think that ship has sailed.
About a year after ...I think that ship has sailed.<br /><br />About a year after getting my bachelor's I applied to a bunch of creative writing MFA programs. My portfolio kind of sucked; I didn't get accepted anywhere. Now it's almost a decade later and I haven't spoken to the profs who wrote my letters of recommendation in about as long. (I did speak to one about two years ago, hoping he would convince me to try again. His answering the question "what can I definitely expect to get out of a creative writing MFA program?" with "you can expect to get a creative writing MFA" didn't exactly compel me to start composing a new statement of purpose.)<br /><br />I'm not sure how I'd benefit from an English MA either. From what I can tell, academic gigs are in short supply. Dipping out of the workforce for a couple of years, amassing a huge pile of debt, and then not being able to find a job better/less painful/less stultifying than what I've got now is a risk I'm not willing to take.<br /><br />If I do go back to school, it'd probably be get a bachelor's in something like conservation biology. I'm beginning to think I belong in a state/national park more than I do in a museum or at the academy.Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-81432113616195455062017-07-07T14:50:06.335-04:002017-07-07T14:50:06.335-04:00You really should just bite the bullet and go to g...You really should just bite the bullet and go to grad school already -- you totally have the mind of an academic. RPWhartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11629849273892262754noreply@blogger.com