Opportunity Costs

So far I have been unsurprisingly positive about my transition to grad school. But don't think I haven't had to face some demons - namely greed. Ask anyone - I love to spend money. My boss knew me well enough to point out that I would be losing out on roughly $350,000 if I stay in school for the full five years. And to make that back in any reasonable amount of time, I need to get a job starting at $130k when I get out. Not going to happen.

On that note, I want to play a little devil's advocate as to why I shouldn't go to grad school. Keep in mind, I have yet to start my first day there, but, I have a pretty good idea on some of the things I will be missing out on. I already talked about the money, that is just a given. In the end, my idea is to have a job that is worth more to me than money.

With a undergraduate degree in Computer Science, I was a hot commodity in the job market. Honestly, the variety of careers was astounding. The world of IT at my company alone deals with all facets of work life - Servers, phones, Internet, networks, mainframes, applications, etc. All of which are interesting in their own way. If I didn't go that route, I could make video games, or be a web designer, basically, all these things I have been trying out and thinking about doing my whole life. A PhD doesn't really mesh with any of those careers. I worried about how valuable I will be, obviously most companies will have no use for me. I will be competing with kids far smarter than I for some exciting, but niche, jobs.

God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas, but for scars.

- Elbert Hubbard

Experience is the one thing you can't teach. My first year of work has taught me things that are hard to learn, painfully. Yes I was also taught all about Java Server Faces and mainframe languages, but the valuable lessons came from interactions with my team, and the business areas. The lessons learned through strife here will no doubt stick with me and change the way I do things. As painful as making those mistakes was, giving up five years of work experience is going to hurt worse. I doubt I will pick up the same kind of experiences in grad school, and most employers wont count grad school as 'work experience'. I don't think I need to expound on how valuable potential employers value solid work experience. Along with that, there also is a lot of growing up done in the first five years of work, which will be at least partially pushed into the future for me. My friends will surely outpace me on this.

But, honestly, when I try to talk about the negative sides of going for a PhD, I have trouble coming up with good reasons for me personally. I am sure a lot of people like the stability that comes with a career. But, why wouldn't I want to postpone real life? Doesn't everyone say that being young is priceless, a treasure, something they wish they could go back to? I saw a chance to extend my youth in some way, and in doing so, possibly fulfill some dreams.

I've got my whole life to grow up.