Masters?
Even though it’s only October, I have already started to ponder what I will be doing after graduation in May. I have only applied to a few jobs which are with IBM in Edmonton and a couple others in British Columbia. I am trying to make Toronto as my last resort for finding a place to work.
Another interesting development has arisen here during the past month. I have been approached for continuing studies at Acadia in the Master’s of Science in Computer Science program. Until it was mentioned to me, I had never really put much thought into continuing to the graduate level. After my internship in Toronto, I wasn’t looking forward to going directly into the workforce after graduating from Acadia, so perhaps this can allow me to have somewhat of a career path change from my previous plan. If I chose to stay at Acadia, I would be here for another 2 years to complete the Masters degree. I’d love to stay around this area longer, so I don’t mind another couple years here at all. Another good reason to stay is that I would already have a topic for my thesis dealing with a peer to peer based collaborative learning environment which I am currently working on for my final year project. I’ve always said that I’d like to be a life-long student if I had enough money to pay for the rising tuition. Going out into industry or working for a large corporation doesn’t interest me very much at all. So we’ll see what happens with this new development. I’ll keep you posted.
Going into Real World = yuck.
Comment by Ryan — October 24, 2004 @ 4:49 pmStaying in Pseudo-fake World longer = yay.
Man, the real worlds okay. You have money to do stuff, and when you leave the office t 5:30 every night, the rest of the night is yours, not homeworks.
It’s really not that scary.
Comment by Derek — October 24, 2004 @ 7:44 pmWill we be seeing a Dr Dawe in the future?
Comment by Erin — October 25, 2004 @ 12:29 pmHmmm…Dr Dawe. I like the sound of that!
Comment by Trevor — October 25, 2004 @ 6:14 pmthough I can’t picture you as a doctor of philosophy, cause I can’t help but be reminded of such philosophical statments of yours as:
Comment by Erin — October 26, 2004 @ 11:29 am“what kind of people go to beauty school anyway?”
and
“what’s with those kid geniuses?”
C’mon now, those are thought-provoking questions which require a deep philosophical foundation for determining the social behaviours and genetical makeup off these beauticians and child anomalies.
Comment by tvor — October 26, 2004 @ 11:50 amI can see both sides of the story. I am keen to get out into the work force because I got *really* used to money coming in. It is sad to see a lot more going out than usual. On the flip side, the student life is a little more laid back in some ways, and a lot more stressful in others. I don’t know if I would want to work for a big corporation, but I don’t know if I want to be living in my parents basement and working at a call centre. Maybe there is a happy medium somewhere?
Comment by Omallley — October 26, 2004 @ 1:04 pmPerhaps the happy medium is to get alot of funding and scholarships while doing graduate work. That way, you have money coming in and you get to live the student lifestyle at the same time.
Comment by Trevor — October 26, 2004 @ 1:33 pmit sounds nice in theory doesn’t it? unfortunately funding for grad students is scarce at best and most grad programs don’t fund their students at all (kelly has to work part time to cover her expenses). Fortunately for us science students there are a lot more external agencies that offer funding compeitions, but even if you get one you can’t hope for much. My scholarship is piddles and I work in one of the highest funded departments in one of the highest funded areas.
Comment by Erin — October 27, 2004 @ 4:35 pmso basically, it’s like working, but with less money
Now that they had to do a serious overhaul of my whole computer and they whipped they whole thing clean I have to start from scratch. So I have to ask again Trevor what is the web address for blogs?
Comment by ness — November 2, 2004 @ 4:32 pmHey Ness, go to http://www.tvor.net/mt/mt.cgi to login to your blog.
Comment by Trevor — November 2, 2004 @ 11:24 pmMy vote is for “Do it!!!”, pass by Masters and straight on to Phd.
Comment by Scott — November 8, 2004 @ 12:16 pmIt’s definitely a tough decision.
You have to ask yourself “what do I like about [X Subject], and could I stand to study that really intensely for 2 more years?” Could you stand to study peer-to-peer communcation protocols and collaborative learning environments for 24 months straight?
Comment by Andrew — November 8, 2004 @ 6:01 pm