|
|
| Post Number: 1
|
damien_s_lucifer 
Emperor of Detnet
Group: Members
Posts: 33
Joined: Jan. 1970
|
 |
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,02:22 |
|
   |
I've decided that I am fundamentally fed up with the IT industry. There is very little chance of finding a job that not only pays well, but is meaningful to me.
So I've decided to go back to school and get my MA in English. I've always wanted to do this, but the GRE always held me back... the GRE for English doesn't test your rhetorical or critical thinking skills, nor does it test your ability to write. Instead, it focuses on a bunch of meaningless facts and figures about the Great Writers.
My college, like many other schools, didn't emphasize these facts; it focused on honing your writing and reasoning skills. So I always thought I was fucked when it came to getting into a master's program.
But last night, I was looking at my local university's English courses because I wanted to get back into writing again. Just for kicks, I checked into the Master's program and saw these magical words :
"There is no GRE requirement."
All it takes is a BA in English, a GPA of 3.0 or better for the last 60 units (mine is 3.8), and a letter of recommendation from one of your former professors, which I can easily obtain. A BA in English will get you into a lot of office jobs, but an MA is required to get into some really cool jobs - like teaching at the undergraduate level.
I never wanted to teach elementary or high school. I love kids, but only in small numbers, and the last thing I'd want to deal with is being chewed out by the administrators because I deviated too far from the Standard Curriculum. But teaching college-level English is sweet... it pays well ($60-$70K/year to start), low stress (the hardest part is grading papers - but I like reading them), it's truly rewarding and meaningful, and there's always a need for really good professors.
Hot damn! MA here I come!
|
 |
|
|
| Post Number: 2
|
Uberkommando
My cup is half empty.
Group: Members
Posts: 337
Joined: Jan. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,02:27 |
|
 |
Another techie falls to a teaching job... Well, congrats man! Good to hear another troubled soul on this board has found an answer.
--------------
Now if you'll excuse me, there's a bottle in the cupboard with my name on it.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 3
|
ic0n0
I have become Death, Destroyer of Worlds
Group: Members
Posts: 1352
Joined: Sep. 2000
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,02:28 |
|
|
I am glad you are going for your lifes goal but......your going to teach english! AH! The most hated of all teachers!
--------------
"I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time." (Isaac Asimov)
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 4
|
editor
forum whore
Group: Members
Posts: 0
Joined: Jan. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,04:11 |
|
|
Congratulations, Jon!
You realize, of course, that you've now informed untold thousands of Detvets and you'll have to live up to it!
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 5
|
Beldurin
Mayor of Detnet
Group: Members
Posts: 1242
Joined: Aug. 2001
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,04:46 |
|
|
I'll have my M.S. in 3 months. I'm planning on working in the IT field for 10-15 yrs. but eventually want to get my Ph.D. and teach at the University level as well. As a warning though...grad school is hard. I breezed kindergarden through my B.S., but things changed significantly at the post-graduate level.
Anyway, good luck DSL!
--------------
If someone's ungrateful and you tell him he's ungrateful, okay, you've called him a name.
You haven't solved anything.
-- zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 6
|
TheTaxMan
Controversial Thug
Group: Members
Posts: 874
Joined: Apr. 2001
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,06:00 |
|
|
They will see eventually DSL...
English rox0rs j0ur box0rs! 
--------------
Four billion years of evolution and this is all we have to show for it?
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 7
|
Anztac
Ronin
Group: Members
Posts: 1294
Joined: May 2000
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,06:03 |
|
|
I love teachers who enjoying teaching! Congratulations!
--------------
~[b]Anztac[/b][ [i]All Who Grok are God[/i] ]
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 8
|
damien_s_lucifer
Emperor of Detnet
Group: Members
Posts: 33
Joined: Jan. 1970
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,07:18 |
|
|
| Quote (ic0n0 @ 15 April 2002,18:28) | | your going to teach english! AH! The most hated of all teachers! |
I will resist the urge to correct your grammar 
Yes, English teachers can be the most hated of all, but the really good ones are often the most beloved. I intend to be one of the really good ones, the kind that emphasizes the reasoning and artistic aspects of writing rather than cramming grammar and dead people down your throat.
Oh, by the way, I don't see this meaning I have failed as a techie. It means I'm brave enough to bail out of this awful industry  I love computers. I will until the day I die. But I have no love for incompetent managers and arrogant, rude, emotionally retarded coworkers.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 9
|
editor
forum whore
Group: Members
Posts: 0
Joined: Jan. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,07:19 |
|
|
Are you *positive* you're not going to write a book?
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 10
|
damien_s_lucifer
Emperor of Detnet
Group: Members
Posts: 33
Joined: Jan. 1970
|
|
Posted on: Apr. 16 2002,07:30 |
|
|
Quite the contrary! I intend to write several. But writing books doesn't pay shit unless you're Steven King, nor does it provide much interaction with other people. All of my creative writing teachers at SSU were active writers, and they were all *really* good.
That was their problem... if you can't churn out formulaic stories with a lot of potential for becoming a series, the big publishers don't want you. Small publishers will adore you, but they can't pay you enough to live. So my teachers turned to teaching to pay the bills, and every one of them *loved* their job. They all considered teaching an integral part of being a real writer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
