From The Weblog: What I miss from academia.

Several months ago, I described why I was leaving graduate school to strike out on my own. In the post, I promised a followup that looked at the things I missed from academia in order to be somewhat balanced in my description of the situation.

Here's that list.

1. Most of all, I miss the weekly routine that I was able to keep while in school. This is largely an artifact of taking weekly classes, but having a regular rhythm was nice. In my current role as a self-employed developer/consultant, it's been hard to impossible to get a routine going. Weekends? What are those?

2. One of the headaches that I deal with now is getting payment from clients in a predictable manner. When at the university, that stipend was deposited in my bank account on the last day of the month, rain or shine. Now, when I get paychecks is an extremely variable affair. I have a couple of clients that pay quickly and on time, but I also have some clients who are a bit overdue on their checks. Ironically, the worst offender is the same organization that used to deposit my stipends in such a timely manner. :-P

3. I miss the socialization with my former fellow graduate students. I was smart to find another group to share office space with, so I haven't become an antisocial freak quite yet. However, I do find myself missing out on the frequent lunches that I used to share with colleagues.

I'm sure that there are more things that I'm leaving off, but those are the major three. My transition back into the workforce has been a good one (and the right choice), but it hasn't been without its costs.

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About Me

July 2009. I am a software developer and small business owner in Chicago. I founded Audacious Software in late 2008, and I continue to operate the business by creating new software products and providing general IT consulting services.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I worked as a software developer for Northwestern University's Academic Technologies (2002-2006). After leaving Academic Technologies, I completed a master's degree in Media, Technology & Society at Northwestern University's School of Communication (2006-2009). While completing that degree, I was a member of the Collabolab, where I designed and implemented context-aware software and assistive technologies.

Prior to my employment (and later education at Northwestern), I received a bachelor of arts degree in computer science at Princeton University (1998-2002). My senior thesis research produced a decentralized system for storing, sharing, and aggregating geographic data (not unlike Google Earth).

When I am not busy writing software, I enjoy practicing piano, reading books, and expanding my collection of X-Men comic books. I've been known to play the occasional video game, and I am a fan of Blizzard's World of Warcraft. I am also an amateur scholar of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. I am particularly interested in the history of the ownership and rights to his fiction and mythos.

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