before I started my phd, I visited with a lot of late stage doctoral students and remember meeting one who was so obviously defeated and deflated by the endeavor and saying to myself: that will never be me. Oh, to be young and naive!

I'm still glad I did it, have minimal regrets, and advise students that funded doctoral study is an extremely powerful tool of self-invention. But the emotional toll of being narrowly trained for a barely-existent career serving hostile/ corrupt/ incompetent bureaucracies. Oof!

all of the immediate likes on this thread are from men and that seems kinda relevant! what does this say about us????