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.