Any scientific / academic types here?

[GrantRobertson]

I know this may not seem like the right sub-forum, but my heart demands that I put my brain to productive use. I am looking for people with whom I can discuss things like academic careers, topics to study, and how to prepare for grad school. I know there are other forums out there for academics, but I don't know any of those people. Even if you aren't a retired professor, please chime in. All I need is another human being to bounce ideas off of. All the things that keep rattling around in my brain all by themselves can get a little overwhelming at times. I work a mind numbing job, on the night shift, where I have to be constantly on my guard to not breath wrong lest someone file an utterly inane complaint, so I can feel my brain shutting down more and more every day.

To answer the obvious questions:

I am primarily interested in a field called Information Science, which is the study of how to format and organize information such that it can be easily used by people AND computers. Within that, I am focused on using these to improve education and academic research.

My (almost complete) Bachelor's degree is a combined degree in Computer Science and Education.

My plans are to complete that, then work on a Master's in CS online while living in BLM land, then go on to a Ph.D. in Information Science. Of course, all that depends on being able to save up enough to get a livable vehicle, then to pay for the last 5 credits of my Bachelor's. After that, I will be eligible for financial aid again.

Anyway, if anyone can relate in any way, I would appreciate being able to visit with you, if only just to commiserate.

 

[dhawktx]

I'm not an academic, by any means, but I did work for multiple firms performing what I have been told is ETL (Extract Transform Load) procedures on various data sources while supporting project managers on big infrastructure projects.

 

[GotSmart]

I have a BS in PR/Communications, and did some work on a Masters in Mediation.   

You can always talk in my general direction!  :idea:

 

[BradKW]

I read a lot of Science Fiction...does that count?

 

[akrvbob]

I have a friend who got his MS online while living in a van, then was working on his PHD in Class at the University of Arizona Tempe while he lived in his van. Academics at that level are 90% pure BS. He could easily handle the work but couldn't handle the politics and BS so he dropped out.

Now he's saddled with a huge amount of debt, I doubt he'll ever get out from under it.
Bob

 

[TMG51]

I've heard that if you pay 10% of your income for 10 years, your student debts are forgiven regardless of the remaining balance.

 

[Roadtramp]

Anyway, if anyone can relate in any way, I would appreciate being able to visit with you, if only just to commiserate.

I can only commiserate...I wonder, tho, about getting into ebook publishing...it's my understanding it's a good time to get into that , and it's certainly a mobile profession....don't know if your quest for higher education is to secure knowledge or possibly be eligible for a higher paying/different job....

I don't envy you, tho... I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up....I've always been interested in too mask things to commit to a degreed program...

Best of luck....

 

[GrantRobertson]

I need the higher ed for a few reasons:

There are things I have invented that will be much easier to implement from within academia. (I will explain later when I have more time. Some are listed on my home page at www.ideationizing.com.)

I need to be among other academic types for intellectual stimulation.

I really like continuous learning.

There are some things I need to learn to be able to implement the above mentioned ideas.


Thanks to all that have replied.

 

[Belinda2]

Grant,
I have been doing this academic "game" for awhile (please refer to my bio.). I did it all debt free and even made money working along side of that for 2 years of it. The car/van saved me about 25% on my overall budget. I had no "quality of life" to enjoy a house anyway. I actually had a home, but rented it out and lived in another state.
Additional $$$ can come from scholarships or even a future employer may be willing to pay your schooling fee for an agreement that you will work for them for a period of time when you get out of school. The school campus can provide free parking, showers, warm or cold climate controlled study areas with electric, etc.
There is a Christian "debt free guru" named Dave Ramsey. He has a daughter that works for him named Racheal Cruz. In 2015 or 2014 she has done many studies on all the ways to go to school debt free. Pod Casts are free online at Daveramsey.com.
With this van lifestyle, you don't have to work as hard to pay all those bills. It gives you more freedom because you can say "no" when that employer is "jerking you around" giving you the "leftover" jobs. You have freedom because lack of money doesn't make you have to say "yes" to all of their demands. THIS is sanity. This lifestyle makes that possible. I call it "living under the work wave"---work is going crazy with all of it's "wave after wave of continuous demands". However, I can say "no" to working continuously because my lifestyle is not "ruled" by money.
I hope this helps.

 

[Canine]

I'd like to help you out,but nobody nowhere ever said I was an intellectual stimulation.Sorry.

 

[GrantRobertson]

Academics at that level are 90% pure BS. He could easily handle the work but couldn't handle the politics and BS so he dropped out.

Now he's saddled with a huge amount of debt, I doubt he'll ever get out from under it.
Bob

Yes, getting through a Doctorate can be more interpersonal management than anything else. However, years of soul searching and agonizing reappraisal have led me to conclude that that is where I want to be.

I already have so much school debt that it will be a miracle if I ever get out from under it. There was a time when I thought of education as purely an investment into future earnings. Now I know it is something I have to do to be happy. It is something I simply must do; just as a writer must write, a musician must play, and a dancer must dance. So, it no longer matters to me if I will ever be able to recoup any of that investment or pay back any of those loans.

There are some who will call me a freeloader. All I can say to that is: If I can bring some of my ideas to fruition, it will change the world forever. And it is something I have to try.

 

[GotSmart]

I'd like to help you out,but nobody nowhere ever said I was an intellectual stimulation.Sorry.

Bob Dickerson, Some of the things you post make me wonder.   :huh:

Is that good enough?

 

[buckwilk]

I'd like to help you out,but nobody nowhere ever said I was an intellectual stimulation.Sorry.

Bob, what are you trying to say here?

 

[Canine]

Grant said he needs intellectual stimulation and I said I would be no help.Now,onthe other hand if he could be stimulated by bull shit,I'm his man.

 

[GrantRobertson]

I wonder, tho, about getting into ebook publishing...it's my understanding it's a good time to get into that , and it's certainly a mobile profession....

That is one of the ways I hope to make extra money.

 

[highdesertranger]

oh, intellectual stimulation. I thought you said. oh never mind. highdesertranger

 

[Roadtramp]

I need the higher ed for a few reasons

I need to be among other academic types for intellectual stimulation.

As I said, I've no degrees...however, continuing to learn is my highest priority...and I need intellectual stimulation, also...

I've been able to hang out a lot with academic types and have always been able to hold my own - at least with those in some fields...it was indeed very enjoyable and stimulating..,

And I can say, having lived on the road six years, I've met huge numbers of mentally stimulating people, with and without degrees...

I see where getting inventions pushed through could be easier if one is within that field with a hugger degree....however - there are all sorts of really smart people outside of academia, also...

Again, best of luck...you'll figure out the best route for you...

 

[GrantRobertson]

oh, intellectual stimulation. I thought you said. oh never mind. highdesertranger

So, what exactly were you offering? While I'm sure you are a wonderful person, I don't think you are quite my type. [emoji12]

 

[GrantRobertson]

More background:
I first went to college in 1978 and studied biology for pre-med. I got mostly A's. I stopped after 2 years due to "existential differences" with where I saw the field of medicine going. I worked in electronics then networking till 2005, when I went back for degrees in Physics and Math, at the age of 45. Though I was getting all A's, I felt it was mostly because I was the least befuddled person in class. Because I felt I just wasn't "getting" the math the way I should, I fell back to Computer Science because it was easy for me. I truly aced almost all of those courses and often tutored my fellow students.

Then I invented a system for organizing and distributing educational content such that everyone could get a free education even when not connected to the internet. I call it the Distributable Educational Material Markup Language (DEMML). I had a web site describing the whole thing but I got so broke I had to let the domain names lapse. Anyway, I transferred to a different university because KU won't let you take ANY education courses unless you are accepted to the School of Ed.

Washburn University, in Topeka, KS, is a nice little college where the teachers are there to TEACH rather than up their publication count. Soon after moving to Topeka, I met a woman who I thought was the woman of my dreams. Turned out she had some serious mental health issues. One of which was Seasonal Affective Disorder. So, in the middle of my last semester, we ended up moving to Tucson. I was able to finish up all but one class, which left me 5 credits shy of a Bachelor's.

Needless to say, it didn't work out. However, over the course of several years we made several tries at getting back together, resulting in me moving around a LOT. But this left me with huge gaps in my resume, making it really hard to get a decent job. Especially here in Austin, where lots of people are immigrating in from San Francisco.

So, I have a crappy job at the VA and I am quickly forgetting ALL my math and some of my computer science.

That's it for now. Time to go to the crappy job.[emoji6]

 

[Seadog729]

I am a criminology major with a minor in linguistics. When I first read your post it reminded me of how we categorize our language very much like a science. In fact information science would seem very much like a language all its own. Would it be true then, if you have language acquisition (of the information science type) then all you have to do is apply it? Just a thought. If that is true, when the technology is upgraded and you have new material you are incorporating, you once again have a new language to learn?

When I first moved to Vancouver I took some courses to prepare for university. I became part of this community of motivated learning for the first time since high school. Since then I have never stopped wanting to learn something; anything.

I currently facilitate circles on peace in the prison system and I am an advocate for prison reform. I also TESOL, teach english as a second language and speak french.

Learning is just another adventure, similar to the ones people write about here! Tell me about yours!