Just thinking back on how I ended up in grad. school, I ran across one of the many paragraphs of text I had previewed when applying that deceived me into thinking it was other than it was.

“Applicants should be highly motivated with strong academic credentials and a desire to pursue creative scholarship”

They don’t really want motivated students… my motivation is giving them no end of trouble right now :). But it does seem that they request one set of traits and practice another. I remain proud that every word in my personal statement was true, but I’ve been herded so far from the plan I had outlined within it that it may as well have been composed of lies (as so many others are) for all of the impact it has had.

A word of advice to the bright-eyed graduate applicants: don’t be deceived as I was. Noble as science is, what you are entering into is nothing other than an apprenticeship. You are perceived and used as a tool within your lab. Your interests do not matter, your talents do not matter, your will does not matter, the quality of your work does not matter. Only your capacity to carry out your superiors’ bidding matters. And they will keep you there for as long as they wish, whether you meet the requirements to graduate or not.

At least they can’t break your bones anymore.