Story of our lives...

[Copyright Jorge Cham]

I love PhD Comics. Few things in pop culture have been able to so accurately capture the excruciating experiences of the very narrow demographic of sadomasochists that Jude and I have the (mis)fortune of belonging to. No one gets the pain of having a basement office with no access to natural light, or the neurotic principle that's been diabolically ingrained into us that we are nothing without our data, and nobody but a former grad student can truly understand that the allure of an academic talk is often really only as strong as the free food it provides. Admittedly- and I say this knowing full well how obnoxious it's going to come out- it's also a kind of cruel humor that only a small group of people grasp and I suppose that can be somewhat alienating.

But for now, for us, it's an avenue to make fun of ourselves, and maybe also a way of not taking this whole PhD thing too seriously. How often do you get to see a mirror of yourself, look at it, and laugh? Like today's comic- literally, the story of my life. Almost to a T. It's scary... From a laughable childhood dream (at ten, I believed I would make a great writer. Or a florist), to a financially doomed college major (English, and with a thesis on French poetry no less- how's that for economically devastating); all of 3 years before I figured out my dissertation topic (totally worth it!), and of course, the hundred-million dollar question from everyone except my neighbour's pet dog, "When are you going to graduate?" The only thing in the comic I'm thankful not to exemplify is having a nasty adviser. I love my adviser and he has been nothing but most kind and supportive. Thank god for him or Serene Koh would be just another grad school stereotype...

So there, PhD Comics- it's free, it's funny, and it's way cheaper than a shrink.