I am steadily coming to the end of my year as a Masters student. My dissertation is due in five weeks and honestly once this is over with, I'm not sure what I'm going to use my brain for. I've spent the best part of a year thinking about very little else and too busy filling my spare time with doggo walking, note taking and boyfriend seeing to think much about where to go afterwards.
For a long time I was sure that I wanted to do a PhD. My plan was pretty solidly to find a funded PhD (Oxford or UCL, y'know - somewhere I could feel smug about) and start my career as an academic. But things have changed. While I LOVE academia, and will always cherish my time as a postgraduate, the reality is that I just don't think that it's the future for me. The world of academia is largely very traditional, rigid, and somewhat humourless, and getting an essay back with glowing praise and a first grade isn't quite enough to take away the snitty comment in the feedback about how the little joke that I made halfway through was 'detrimental to an otherwise professional and impressive piece of work'.
For a long time I was sure that I wanted to do a PhD. My plan was pretty solidly to find a funded PhD (Oxford or UCL, y'know - somewhere I could feel smug about) and start my career as an academic. But things have changed. While I LOVE academia, and will always cherish my time as a postgraduate, the reality is that I just don't think that it's the future for me. The world of academia is largely very traditional, rigid, and somewhat humourless, and getting an essay back with glowing praise and a first grade isn't quite enough to take away the snitty comment in the feedback about how the little joke that I made halfway through was 'detrimental to an otherwise professional and impressive piece of work'.
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