Thursday, October 27, 2005

On belonging to a non-academic family

I've been thinking a lot about my relationship with my family lately. It might have something to do with waiting forever to buy my plane ticket home for Thanksgiving (once I purchase it then I am really committed to going home).
During my childhood, school was of paramount importance and the broken record in my head played over and over 'education is the key to your future'. [However, I do think my parents were thinking more along the lines of medical doctor, lawyer, or accountant rather than PhD.]
So what happened along the way that made them really lose me? Did I take to long getting here? Or is it that they just don't really understand what I do?
I am reminded of the subheading on Dr. Crazy's page "Thinking for a living is serious business," this is so true; however there could also be a subheading to the subheading "What people think you do for a living is less than serious."
When you are the only 4-year college grad in the family, your education, graduate school, and faculty life is a big mystery.
. . . and let's not even replay the scene of me trying to explain my research or what I teach to my family.

1 comment:

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