blueswede

The Nine Faces of Dave
2005-02-08 07:11:49 (UTC)

come and waste another year

It's funny how the opportunity to effect real change in the
life I lead induces more fear than joy.

So I found out just a few hours ago that I have enough units
to graduate at the end of this year. Three years of college
and I can be done with a B.A. in computer science. It's not
an easy idea to get used to.

So why am I not jumping immediately at the prospect? Well,
for starters it's late in the year to begin post-graduation
plans, and also I'm not sure what the effect of a B.A. would
be on my career prospects, as opposed to the B.S. I had been
shooting for when I thought I'd be here four years. I have
heard that the negative impact would be substantial without
graduate education, but that's from one source, and I've not
been inclined to put much stock in his advice on anything as
of late, at least not as it pertains to my life.

It's a strange quandary to be in: is it better to leave this
institution and move on with my life, or do I stay here and
make one last-ditch effort to squeeze as much learning as I
can out of this place? Do I decide that there really isn't
anything here for me socially and cut my losses, or do I try
one last time to make an enjoyable life for myself?

Part of me thinks that staying on would be a dumb idea, and
a waste of a year I could use more productively. Part of me
thinks that there's still educational value in these halls,
and maybe I can make good socially with one more shot. Part
of me is regretting not planning things out to pull down the
B.S. and graduate in three years, and part of me just wishes
I didn't have to make this decision.

My plan at this point is to talk to people in the department
and the few professionals I know to find out what impact the
difference in degree name will have. I'm also going to call
around to grad schools and see if there isn't a possibility
I could still get in for next fall. And the third aspect of
my plan is to talk to people in the career center to see the
options I might have for working if I get out now.

Now the independent research I've done (translation: I ran a
search on Monster.com) indicates that while only having the
B.A. degree would cut me off from SOME positions, especially
stuff with flashy outfits like Apple, it could be overcome,
either through graduate work or garnering experience. Plus
the jobs that I would be cut off from aren't generally true
entry-level jobs; usually they require hefty experience.

So even though I could probably recover from getting out of
here early, a part of me still questions the wisdom of doing
so. There is, of course, the whole "why graduate before you
can drink legally" matter, and also "relax and enjoy the end
of it all," but beyond that I'd have to wonder if I wouldn't
be squandering the last great social opportunity I'll have.

Granted I don't rightly know what the "real world" is really
like, but if my life pans out anything like last summer, I'm
more likely to spend my free time exercising and watching a
marathon of some goofy VH1 series instead of meeting people.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. I love me some VH1.

Ignoring the one thing that gives me hipster cred, it seems
like it might be a bad idea to go out in the world given the
tendencies in my social life. If I stick around here, that
leaves me a year to correct things and get on track. That's
kind of a stupid way to look at it I realize, but I'd really
feel pretty weird to end up working in a professional-level
job and still be the way I am now.

But who's to say that wouldn't happen even if I stuck around
for another year?

This is Dave, signing off.




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