Piled Higher and Deeper

http://www.phdcomics.com

Never thought sad truth could be told in such a poignant manner. I guess I feel the same way when I read phdcomics as a new office-goer would feel reading Dilbert and actually relating to it for the first time.

I started reading this comic 2 days back and boy is it addictive. I have already finished 703 strips and the number 703 only because Jorge Cham is on his PhD Winter 2006 Tour and doesnt contribute to his strip on a regular basis. Most of you reading this who are not pursuing graduate studies will not relate to the comic just as I can't still relate to Dilbert. But if you wanna know what kind of life grad students lead, then there cannot be a better indicator than this strip.

Its true to the dot. The sustenance on Ramen noodles, there being no life outside the lab, professors treating you like dirt and making you feel miserable and a low life.

Procrastination - now that's a word which has become an integral part of my vocabulary after coming here. Is it grad school which does this to you or is it a phase which everyone goes through? If the answer is yes to the former alone, then why? My reasoning would be that somehow grad school doesn't enthuse and doesn't drive a person enough to overcome the constant tempatation to slack off, to not do anything and leave everything for tomorrow.

"I think I will start my own company. Anyways I don't get to implement my ideas here!", said I, to which a to-be-PhD friend of mine replied, " Then do a PhD ! You can most definitely excercise your ideas there." Can I? After encountering professors and their sick attitudes here I am least inclined to believe that.

I came in with a passion for technology, a passion to learn, and to implement my ideas. The University of Michigan has very effectively nipped any ideas/passion I may have had in its very bud. I have become this person who now detests any mention of the word tech, who will do anything to get away from it asap.

(Started writing this long back.. will finish sometime..)