Could Grad School Be Your Dream Job?

A common complaint among older generations is that us Millennials have been groomed to expect to get what we want.  Rumor has it that we all believe we deserve the best, including our choice of jobs as we leave the safe bubble of undergraduate education.  To some extent these rumors are true; we have been told for most of our lives that we can be whatever we want to be.  Many of us approach college graduation with the presumption that our ideal job is waiting for us right around the corner.  The idea of a “dream job” has chased us since childhood and being faced with the harsh reality of compromise for employment that may not fulfill us in the way that we had hoped is too much for many people to handle immediately after college.

In this situation, some individuals turn back for more education.  We all know people who have done something similar: the friend who took an extra year of undergrad because they weren’t ready to leave college, the lost acquaintance who was too overwhelmed by her options and meandered into a near-randomly selected master’s program.  At times these situations can draw some eye-rolling from the working world, as they can be seen as postponing the inevitable.  Another type of student sees grad school as a means to an end; they attend law school, med school, or get an MBA knowing that their ultimate career goals will only be achieved with this education.  However, a fascinating and rarer breed of post-graduate student sees grad school as their ultimate goal.

The Journey and the Destination

While graduate education may not always be the most practical choice for financial and hiring reasons, this special type of Grad Student is too immediately enthralled with their chosen field to stress about future job prospects.  They have a focused interest or goal: they want to spend years immersing themselves in their field, through research, training, and focused classes in an academic environment that embraces their passion.  To them, happiness is studying feminism in medieval literature or the function of silicone nanopores for years at a time.  They recognize that very few workplaces would encourage this level of commitment (or obsession) to the field they want to pursue, and they see a graduate education as an opportunity to allow themselves to explore the depths of their interests.   Many Grad Students of this type are willing to go into debt to support this dream job, while for lucky ones it can be a paid position.  Being able to get funding to pursue your passion is the goal; the prospect of a fulfilling career after finishing a master’s or doctorate is simply the icing on the cake.

Getting into graduate school, especially a fully funded program, is not easy.  Applying is a risk, and many potential Grad Students will not get in. A delicate balance between confidence and humility comes into play during the application process, and the sting of rejection is even sharper after you’ve shared your hopes and dreams in a personal statement.  Grad Students have to decide how much to sacrifice to pursue their education in the form of student loans.  Most Grad Students will enter their program of choice with a quiet sense of pride after having to endure a grueling application and interview process.  They have gotten their “dream job”- being paid or finding the support to perform investigations and receive training that fits perfectly into their own area of personal interest.

I feel lucky to consider myself one of these Grad Students.  I took a decent research job after college and while working in it I was able to discover my passion.  After a year of debating, I decided it was time to take the leap and apply.  The application experience was unique and intense; it was far more stressful and personally draining than any challenge I had faced during my undergraduate education.  Yet when I got the call inviting me to my top choice program, the combination of relief and excitement was priceless.  I’m ready to dive headfirst into my program; I already catch myself reading articles written by my future mentor and imagining what it will be like to go back to school.  At the same time it’s scary.  It will be a huge change from the working life and it is a big sacrifice both financially and personally.  Yet I truly can’t imagine anything else I would rather be doing- more proof that I am one of those Grad Students.  This educational opportunity hopefully will prove to be my “dream job.”

Katie McLean graduated from UNC-CH in 2008 with a degree in Psychology and a second major in Spanish.  She currently lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she works as a research coordinator at the NC Children’s Hospital.  She will soon be found attending the Clinical Psychology PhD program at the University of Miami, where she will spend her time geeking out about child health psychology and swimming at the many beaches.

Photo Credit: english106