Wednesday, September 14, 2005

He Hate Me

Post Game

I hope y'all appreciate the time and energy I put into creating these polysemic titles. In case you haven't figured it out, nearly everything I write (and say) has at the very least a double meaning attached. If you're ever confused, just assume one of the meanings has something to do with prison rape.

That said, on to today's rant. I've often felt that there's a body of information that other people were born with that I am 21 years or so behind in discovering. This feeling is especially salient given my recent inner/outer mono/dialouge about future career options (if you haven't read the Brown Man's Burden post below, you should do that now or the rest of this won't make as much sense).

I went to career services today to see the corporate recruiter for Bain & Company, a financial consulting firm, to see what she had to say. She was a former Brown grad who sort of reminded me of a less fanciful/plant-oriented Lisa with a Harvard Business degree. The entire situation was very awkward as we sat around a table in an "informal meeting" with other interested Brown seniors. Some were in full corporate interview wear (shirt and tie) while others were dressed in t-shirts and shorts. The room also seemed to be split by students eager to sell their soul to the highest bidder and students looking to find themselves in the fast-paced 60 hour/week world of business.

As I asked stupid question after stupid question, the "sell out-types" glared at me disapprovingly while the "find myself-types" nodded approvingly. For the rest of my fellow confused seniors, here's how she described our options post-Brown.
  1. Join a business firm - Go to business school - Do business
  2. Go to med school - Be a doctor
  3. Go to law school - Be a lawyer - Quit - Find yourself, then start over again
  4. Get a Ph.D. - Be an academic
  5. Other
I wonder what the breakdown is of how many Ivy students and Brown students take each of these options.

This really strikes me as a situation where race and class make a big difference. Of family friends and other adults I know semi-well, I can only think of 2 people who've done any of the first four options (my godmother is a lawyer and my boss at Black Studies is a Ph.D.). I think this is one of those times when its good to have those family/personal connections with those in these upper-class professions.

So is this stuff that everyone else knew and I am just late? Am I understanding this right or is there something else I'm missing? Do any of you actually plan to pursure options 1-4?

Comments would be greatly appreciated by all.

5 Comments:

Blogger Annie said...

Speaking as someone who has just gone through the looking glass let me just offer this one definitive explanation of what life after graduation is really like for the typical liberal arts student: http://static.flickr.com/27/43394918_41dd7c34e3_o.jpg

7:18 PM, September 14, 2005  
Blogger nathan said...

sounds like some one was doing his MC170 reading.
"polysemic"
i read that article too.

but i was talking with tribe today and he claims that post-college life, after a brief low, is actually a good time.

8:20 PM, September 14, 2005  
Blogger Ed said...

Man I transfered out of art school just to have a fucking shot at option 4. Fingers crossed for a good grad school, fingers so crossed they are broken. Double double crossed if its in england and I can just get wasted and molest high school girls.

12:24 AM, September 15, 2005  
Blogger Annie said...

I would just like to say how insulted I am that no one has commented on the absolute utter perfection of that picture I linked to. I am unabashedly proud of that damn photo.

6:17 PM, September 15, 2005  
Blogger nathan said...

i talked to brandon, he appreciated it as far as i can tell

10:09 PM, September 15, 2005  

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