Observation IIII

The Mc.D. Degree

We’ve all heard of the useless bachelor’s degrees:

http://www.classesandcareers.com/advisor/the-10-worst-college-majors/

And the good college degrees:

http://myfootpath.com/degrees-and-programs/top-degrees-career/top-bachelors-degrees-2011/

          I’ve heard many “can’t find a job” or “I wasted my time on a useless degree” complaints over the years from graduates. It used to be the usual suspects, drama, English literature, philosophy, and etc. majors. Now I’m hearing the same complaints from graduates in the Biosciences. They seem to think they are entitled to employment without proving themselves. Former workmates of mine proved they aren’t up to the task but still think they deserve some sort of preferential treatment. My advice was to go to a state that has a known biotech hub or a region that has a biotech cluster. There they will have many more chances to land a job that they will be comfortable in. Hey, if you’re single and in your 20’s take a chance. Nope, some would rather give up, with a sizable college loan, and work the same minimum wage job they were at before they started college!

 This whining brings up something valuable; your college degree is only as good as you want to be. This includes the so-called useless degrees. Here is an example:

http://www.mesacc.edu/~hocutt/

I took Human Genetics with Dr. Hocutt at MCC and was shocked that he was a Lit major, at Harvard! How did he end up with a Ph.D. in Biology?  His explanation was a family friend commented that she remembered him as a little boy collecting frogs. This struck him profoundly, an epiphany, he realized that was his calling, the biological sciences was where he should be. His experience having fun collecting amphibians as a child would shape the course of his life.  I had a similar experience while working at a cozy job at Hewlett-Packard’s Corvallis facility. When the onsite outsource companies are outsourced to Taiwan, you know it’s time to leave. I was offered an entry-level job in Boise, without a pay cut, making California wages. You would think I was set for life. No, I knew it was time to leave, take the 10-month cash payoff and take control of my 401K, HP and Agilent stock. Looking at available jobs in California I kept seeing zoologist, biologist, or any life science degree for the biotech market. This changed everything. In a high school career survey biologist was the number 1 choice for me to pursue. Living in California a career in electronics with only an A.S. degree was a wiser choice at the time. A degree in the life sciences and a career change was now the goal.

 What this means to me is there are no useless degrees from good colleges. Those who whine and moan will never get anywhere, they have to realize their true calling like Dr. Hocutt, find a different job market, or take a chance and go back to college and start a new career path like I chose to do.

 The most talented painter in the world will never end up in a gallery if they don’t bother to pick up a paintbrush. Otherwise they’ll be working at Mickey D’s. 

Observation III

Fear of the friendly PI

Recently I found out what most strikes fear in many undergraduate student workers, graduate students and most other employees I work with. That is talking with the PIs.  Yes the dreaded PI, not the MCAT, VCAT, BMAT or GRE, the dreaded PI. We normally interact with 6 or 7 of them and if I suggest talking with any one of them you’ll get a dozen excuses on why they can’t do it. Even if it is just to drop off some paperwork, the anxiety of simply knocking on the door is too much to bear. There is usually a long pause of silence and the excuse, “Uh, I have to go home and clean my bathroom”. Many of these students have never even bothered to interact with a PI, so what is all this fear about? Well, I happen to be one of those that really have to push myself to knock on that door. At this moment I’m supposed to be dropping of some requested items to a PI but here I am writing this and thinking of something to say and coming up with a potential escape plan. Sometimes I have to pace up and down the hallway, peek in the open door and maybe, just maybe they won’t be in there. Why do I dread interacting with PIs? First off, sometimes I can’t escape; even a simple chore ends up being and hour and a half lecture on how to do drug preparation. I have to prove how I got my answer and even if it is correct they don’t like the way I got to the answer, even if another PI was the one who trained me on drug preparation. The reply is “ Well I’m not Dr. So and So, this is the way I do it”. So I get a very long retraining session. Then you realize every other PI has there own way of doing calculations, experiment descriptions and views of life in general. This isn’t so bad if there are only a few PIs, but when you have a half dozen to deal with it can be daunting.  There’s always that question on how the graduate project is going or as they reach for huge notebook, describing in excruciating detail, what they did for their postdoctoral research. Sometimes you get the father figure routine, which sometimes comes across as nagging. It can be quite difficult to feign interest, especially when you’re not a good actor. Then you realize the PIs don’t always interact with each as much as they should. They are a source of valuable information and guidance to anyone that wants to listen. They won’t turn you away and available a good portion of the day.

          Maybe I need to be understanding and tell myself and others to just go talk to the friendly PI; they’re lonely and need someone to talk to.

Observation II

        When I was an undergraduate student at Arizona State University a prominent professor blurted out of nowhere that the girls should sell their eggs to pay for college, especially if they were tall and blonde. I was taken aback at the boldness and nonchalant manner of her suggestion. At the time I didn’t further investigate if this was actually prudent or maybe some sort of joke. With this blog I’ve discovered that everything the professor advised to the female students was accurate. As you can see there is quite a bit of money that can be made for the right type of donors. Yes, this professor was serious.

http://donoreggtreatment.com/affordable-options/

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2006-03-15-egg-donors-usat_x.htm

        As noted there can be serious ethical and health concerns or absolutely none at all. The ASU professor was either making small talk as a pragmatic way to pay for college or was going out on a limb by being reckless and totally devoid of any of the consequences of selling your genetic information for quick cash.  I thought it was unacceptable either way to make such a suggestion in class.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2006-03-15-egg-donors-usat_x.htm

http://infertility.about.com/b/2008/10/28/selling-your-eggs-for-cash-is-egg-donation-ethical-if-done-only-for-the-money.htm

          While the allure of donating is understandable, there are some that are concerned that the only reason why couples are buying eggs is to produce trophy children.  Just like a shiny new sports car, lavish house or shiny jewelry, these children may just be something to show off to their peers, not to truly love and adore. Other people have made the claim that this is designer eugenics since specific traits are understandably more desired.  Others may argue adoption should be considered first.

          Another problem I see is what will happen if the child doesn’t turn out as expected? There is no guarantee they will be tall, intelligent, have artistic talent or be athletic. That is what is so fascinating about life; you don’t always know what you will get.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/egg-donation-agencies-paid-money-favored-attributes/story?id=10614326#.TsnJKVZQ5rM