We Used to Wait

We still do, but we used to, too.

* * *

Patience rewarded: I finished my PhD in August 2018. You can tell from my lack of blog posts between now and then that my "Story So Far" post set it all up to be much more exciting than it actually was. Let's revisit: 

My peers in the PhD program have achieved the same things I have; while our individual stories have differences in detail, our baseline experiences, accomplishments and sensibilities are much the same.

I underestimated how different everyone in the program was and is. Our backgrounds were not really that similar, our goals in the PhD program certainly weren't, and our paths to completion varied considerably.

Had I taken a job in Houston, I suppose I would be in a similar situation ... But I feel like moving 1300 miles northeast is more of a reboot than taking Highway 6 over to Houston, buying a 2014 Chevy truck, and renting a shitty apartment.

I took M-14 over to Detroit, bought a 2013 GMC truck, and bought a shitty house.

I may have been things down south but they have been left behind; today I am just another grad student from a far away land. The novelty is exciting. My concern is that I have devalued what I used to consider important in order to chase notoriety, money and power.

There is no notoriety, money, or power associated with a mechanical engineering doctoral program. Next. (Also, not using the Oxford comma? Come on homes.)

So I’m missing face-to-face interaction with my closest friends and family… and my car. That doesn’t seem too bad when I put it that way, especially considering I am not required to be here forever.

Narrator: You're here forever. But you can afford a shitty house with a shitty garage to put your shitty car in that you towed 1300 shitty miles northeast with your shitty pickup truck.

What am I getting in return?

I think my original answer holds up well:

An education. Or more accurately, an escalation of my education. I’m already highly educated relative to the other seven billion people on the planet. So I’m getting more, just to rub it in their faces. Apparently.

To be honest, I have no regrets about my schooling and how it has set my life up. But I wouldn't claim my path is right for everyone. That's something I'm more sure of now than ever.