The cool factor

One of the most disturbing things I found when I joined the Ph.D. program was that I was no longer cool. Ok, I am not saying I used to be super cool...but after you start your Ph.D. FORGET IT.

It doesn't matter if you cheered in high school...played football in college or was a football recruiter. Having a great job in the past...a pile of money. None of that matters. When you go get your Ph.D. you are now a nerd. This is a harder pill to swallow for some folks than others. One of my profs discussed this with me and it came as a shock! I had never thought of it in quite so harsh of terms.

So...I guess in addition to losing my freedom, losing my autonomy, and losing my ability to tell people to stick it up their nose when they totally deserve it...I lost all kinds of cool points. I was trying to think of non-nerdy Ph.D.s but I haven't had much success. Definitely not Business Information Systems. Math is pretty nerdy. All of the hard sciences are even nerdier than BIS. Engineering is definitely even less cool if possible than BIS. I pretty much lump all of business together...so nothing new in coolness there. Nah I am drawing blanks. A word to the wise...when you get a Ph.D. you sign away your right to be cool.