As I head down the home stretch of finishing the PhD, I’ve noticed that I am suffering from an acute case of completion anxiety. To be honest, I don’t know what’s scarier–trying to finish the dissertation, or having to think about it actually being finished (and, consequently, my new “post-graduate school life” beginning).
It’s really easy to get settled into the identity of a graduate school student. I mean, where else do you get a pre-fab community of friends with similar interests, similar stresses, and (for the most part) similar incomes? As much as I have been tempted to malign my friends who seem to have no interest in getting out of grad school, I am sympathetic with the comfort they obviously feel staying put.
I’m sure this must be the case with a lot of people in a lot of different jobs. So, I’m soliciting advice… how does one get over the anxiety of just moving on?
I moved on and, honestly, since I did my life keeps getting better and better. I know that having a corporate job is very different from staying in academia, so it’s not a very fair comparison, but I’ve felt more like I have a life than I did in graduate school.
Gradschool was fun but, for me, the graduate student identity seemed to penetrate every aspect of my life which I found a little stifling.
I think you will be an awesome professor and your students will find you very inspiring.