You say that this list is about sharing ideas, and I agree with that
as well. And I agree that the goal is not to "sound smart" (and
forgive me if that is the message I sent). My point is not that we
should try to impress, but that I am all too aware that my ideas are
connected to my identity as a graduate student. Part of my job is to
pass the test to earn my credentials. Although your formal
credentials may not overlap as much with others on the list, you
_have_ earned your Ph.D. Although your ideas are still evaluated by
others, they are evaluated, I would imagine, quite differently.
When I decided to enter a doctoral program,I had no intention of
receiving my degree. At the time, I just didn't feel very finished
with school and had just been introduced to ideas that I wanted to
learn more about. I still have the drive to keep learning but I also
have to face the fact that I ain't rich and I want a to be a professor
when I grow up. So although I probably put much more stress on the
"sounding smart" idea than I really meant to, I think it is only
realistic to believe that as a graduate student who will be on the
market in the next few years and as someone who isn't much of a
"networker" that I could pretty easily hammer the nails onto my
academic coffin by sounding too unsmart.
And Anthony,
I like your (Britton's? Dias'?) example of the pool cue and how language
is being used. It's kind of funny, but when I decided to pursue a
doctorate I was very interetsed in studying the change in positions from
graduate student to professor. Although my dissertation topic has
changed, I do hope I'll get back to that topic. It does fascinate me!
Lenora