Why I Dropped Out of a PhD at UT Dallas
Every single one of my professors and advisors said they were sorry to hear I was leaving the program for a full-time job outside of academia--I'm not sorry at all! Getting a PhD isn't as hard as they try to make it with all the superfluous exam requirements, and the wooing of faculty members to get a committee, and the years and years of work and dedication required for exclusive entry into a wasteland of a job market...
I get more reading done on my bus to and from work than I did as a student scrounging for food stamp money and trying to learn how to teach (they chuck you into the deep end with that job--your undergrads are going into crushing debt just to watch people like me scramble and flail); I get more writing done blogging for myself, writing copy for my employer's websites and publications, and even working on my fiction during snack breaks and downtime; I made 60% of a monthly TA stipend in one week at a real job, and soon I'll have employer provided healthcare, a debt-free savings account, and marketable skills (UT Dallas couldn't promise me any of that, and it charges the highest public tuition in the whole state of Texas). I'm smarter than I've ever been for quitting teaching and dropping out of school. As my new boss said on my first day while we cleared out the remainders of the office's former tenants, and I hesitated to let something go over the trash can: "Don't be precious." Higher education is a pretty idea, and being a doctor of anything certainly sounds nice, like prestigious, and valuable, but in reality it isn't: a lot of higher education is ugly, and wasting so much time and energy for nothing but a title is foolish and vain, and the lesson contained in the mantra 'don't be precious' is the hardest one I had to learn in school (it taught me by way of bad example, like a 'scared straight' program).
So here are my official reasons for leaving, as I told every advisor I could think to email. Writing English papers isn't hard, but poverty is; there are a lot of sorry people in higher education, and I'm not one of them anymore.
Hello,
Yes, I'm comfortable letting you know my reasons for leaving over email. The reasons are largely financial. The stipend for a TA isn't enough to live on without going into personal debt, relying on public assistance like food stamps, and living in poverty. With no guarantee of summer employment, and no healthcare provided to me as a student or an employee without monthly payments I can't afford on the stipend, it's impossible to be frugal enough to be healthy while pursuing this degree, especially since even attending full time, it would take me four years to complete the coursework (let alone a dissertation).
The fact that I personally have a Master's degree (and outstanding student loan debt) from another institution doesn't mean I can complete the coursework at UTD any sooner, it just means I'm qualified to teach as an Instructor of Record. The fact that being a TA for another professor and being an instructor (responsible for my own lesson plans and grading) provides the same stipend amount is extremely hard on morale. It feels like the qualifications I've already earned aren't valued.
With the academic job market so unreliable (the MFA in Creative Writing I already have is a terminal degree I took to qualify myself for college teaching, but I was unable to find a full-time placement before arriving at UT Dallas), I cannot invest so much time and money in getting a higher degree at this institution. It would be financially ruinous to do so.
Thank you for the information you provided,
Lauren Fields
I get more reading done on my bus to and from work than I did as a student scrounging for food stamp money and trying to learn how to teach (they chuck you into the deep end with that job--your undergrads are going into crushing debt just to watch people like me scramble and flail); I get more writing done blogging for myself, writing copy for my employer's websites and publications, and even working on my fiction during snack breaks and downtime; I made 60% of a monthly TA stipend in one week at a real job, and soon I'll have employer provided healthcare, a debt-free savings account, and marketable skills (UT Dallas couldn't promise me any of that, and it charges the highest public tuition in the whole state of Texas). I'm smarter than I've ever been for quitting teaching and dropping out of school. As my new boss said on my first day while we cleared out the remainders of the office's former tenants, and I hesitated to let something go over the trash can: "Don't be precious." Higher education is a pretty idea, and being a doctor of anything certainly sounds nice, like prestigious, and valuable, but in reality it isn't: a lot of higher education is ugly, and wasting so much time and energy for nothing but a title is foolish and vain, and the lesson contained in the mantra 'don't be precious' is the hardest one I had to learn in school (it taught me by way of bad example, like a 'scared straight' program).
So here are my official reasons for leaving, as I told every advisor I could think to email. Writing English papers isn't hard, but poverty is; there are a lot of sorry people in higher education, and I'm not one of them anymore.
Hello,
Yes, I'm comfortable letting you know my reasons for leaving over email. The reasons are largely financial. The stipend for a TA isn't enough to live on without going into personal debt, relying on public assistance like food stamps, and living in poverty. With no guarantee of summer employment, and no healthcare provided to me as a student or an employee without monthly payments I can't afford on the stipend, it's impossible to be frugal enough to be healthy while pursuing this degree, especially since even attending full time, it would take me four years to complete the coursework (let alone a dissertation).
The fact that I personally have a Master's degree (and outstanding student loan debt) from another institution doesn't mean I can complete the coursework at UTD any sooner, it just means I'm qualified to teach as an Instructor of Record. The fact that being a TA for another professor and being an instructor (responsible for my own lesson plans and grading) provides the same stipend amount is extremely hard on morale. It feels like the qualifications I've already earned aren't valued.
With the academic job market so unreliable (the MFA in Creative Writing I already have is a terminal degree I took to qualify myself for college teaching, but I was unable to find a full-time placement before arriving at UT Dallas), I cannot invest so much time and money in getting a higher degree at this institution. It would be financially ruinous to do so.
Thank you for the information you provided,
Lauren Fields
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