So what can you do as a Master of Science anyway?

Changed the new name of the blog. Still describes my situation, but is more upbeat about it, which matches my current disposition on the situation.

I have a bunch of applications out now for a bunch of different stuff. I have an interview at Loveland Ski Area next weekend for a ski instructor position. I have a couple applications in with the USGS, and I'm applying for a bunch of internships at National Park Service Lands, both through the GeoCorps and the Student Conservation Association (SCA). Hopefully those options will get me through most of this year. We'll see how it goes.

On Wednesday I head off for Colorado (again) for the 13th (I think) annual Father/Son ske weekend, based in Frisco, CO. After that it's back to Madison for an undetermined amount of time. Right now I'm still enjoying the whole no responsibilities thing, but I expect to get stir crazy in a few weeks if I haven't found something to do by then.

Good Morning

While probably not exactly what Kanye West intended (I'm awful at extracting the intended meaning from creative works), I've been identifying with this song recently. To me it points out the irony that despite all the hard work it takes to earn a college degree, all you really get is a piece of paper that says you finished; you haven't accomplished anything until you do something with that degree. 'Good morning' can be interpreted with optimism or pessimism, but either way you are waking up to a world you barely know, the world outside of academia. On one hand there is excitement for being free of all constraints, all protection, free to pursue your dreams and make a living. On the other hand, leaving the insulated bubble of college can give you a sudden, 'oh shit, now what' reaction. And when the economy is in the situation it is now, I can feel that pessimism creeping in when I consider the options for my immediate future.

On December 21st I graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Master of Science degree in Geophysics. My thesis focused on using radar measurements to observe volcanic deformation, known within the geophysical community as InSAR. How applicable is this skill? It depends on what you mean by 'applicable'. InSAR is one of those things that only matters to the people within the science who use it. I can't exactly go up to a consulting firm and say 'hire me, I know how to use InSAR'. What I do have going for me is the whole Masters degree thing. As absurd as it sounds, I am now a master of science. I feel like I should be able move rocks with my mind with a title like that, but it's just a piece of paper. However, that piece of paper does represent a standard of independent thought and effort. The next months will show what exactly I can do with as a master of science.

For those keeping track at home, yes, I did complete a masters degree with a thesis in just 16 months, and yes, it was insane, and no, I did not choose this path myself. A lack of funding in my department for this spring forced a decision on me early in 2008: either graduate in December or start paying tuition again. Since my parents already put down $160,000 to put me through Dartmouth, I had no money myself, and my graduate school experience thus far had shown me that I could use some time off, I chose the December graduation. After a year of classes and relative slacking, a summer and fall of hard work, late nights, and the development of a thesis gut this past November, I met my goal of getting out of UW while I was still financially supported, leaving me here, now.

I currently plan to pursue a Ph.D. in some field of geophysics I have yet to decide on. I didn't have time to apply to schools this fall, so now I have 17-20 months with which to occupy myself before starting school again in fall 2010. Or that's the current plan. As I found out around this time last year, well-laid plans can change quickly. So much for my 5 year Ph.D. plan based in Madison, WI. Given the great uncertainty facing me currently, I've decided yet again to be a regular blogger, thinking I may be doing things worth writing about. Grad school, while made entertaining and humorous by PhD comics, proved to be a less than inspiring writing topic for me. Nobody I know besides my advisor really cares about InSAR, and that's all I've been doing for the past 6 months.

This all leads to the currently working title for this, the third iteration of my blog (the first was Dominica in 2006, the second was Jan-May 2008 as basically an ultimate tourney write-up blog): Life on Pause. I say 'on Pause', because while I'm out of school, I plan to go back, leaving me in this purgatory of needing to find a job, but not one that is a career-type which would limit my ability to quit in 20 months. In the meantime I'm going to try have fun, maybe land some internships, be a ski bum, study for GRE's, maybe do some independent research, road trip a lot, anything to keep me entertained and hopefully bring in a pay check. We'll see how it goes.