Friday, February 18, 2011
The Graduate School Experience
As an introductory image to show my research group as part of a general discussion about grad school, careers etc., I decided to see if I could graphically depict the essence of The Graduate School Experience using only the standard menu of clip art and shapes available with PowerPoint presentation software. I found that I could get pretty far with the available images, although, for the final product, I added one non-ppt image, and in the version I showed my group (but not shown here), I added some images specific to my field/research group. Nevertheless, here is a PowerPoint Clip Art vision of The Graduate School Experience:
LMAO. Out loud, in my office, while my colleagues stare.
ReplyDeleteThis made me smile; thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBut what is the trash can with the clouds over it, and the footprints in the sand? Those are the only two images that I didn't get.
I'm slightly confused at what your slide is trying to explore...or is that the whole point?
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Except the holy chicken - I'm not sure I relate with that image?
ReplyDeletethe footsteps lead to the water's edge.. ambiguous.. and funny!
ReplyDeleteassume that trash can means ideas tossed out. clouds = confusion, depression, cloudy thoughts
holy chicken = bright idea?
ReplyDeleteThere's the holy chicken, and he beget many new small chicken!
ReplyDeleteUmmm? Holy Chicken? How about a rooster crowing at dawn - as in getting up at dawn or staying up until dawn.
ReplyDeleteThe mixture of exhilaration and terror found on a big coaster as a metaphor for the first year?
ReplyDeleteNice.
Does it mean anything important if I was at "The Scream" more than once?
I like the ducks in a row.
Pictures of footprints in the sand always make me think of Jesus. Or at least that motivational/spiritual saying about him carrying people.
ReplyDeleteMaybe here it refers to the come to Jesus talk.
This is really creative and great! I'll be sharing it with my grad students. I saw the "holy chicken" as a metaphor for finally getting some results you could crow about like a rooster.
ReplyDeleteThe possible spiritual aspects of the chicken eluded me, I must admit. I liked the background, and the juxtaposition of a happy rooster/chicken with a man on the moon etc., but the beauty of it is that there are so many possible interpretations, all of them strange.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:53, I'm very confused at what your comment is trying to say.. or was that the whole point?
ReplyDeleteOh good. I thought it meant during your defense you 'laid an egg' but since that isn't the meaning, I am happy to assume student X graduated.
ReplyDeleteEnding with a celebration? A little dishonest don't you think?
ReplyDeleteIt would be more honest to show a pile of rejection letters, a U-Haul van (to your first Postdoc), another U-Haul van (to your second postdoc), ramen noodles, then finally a cubicle as you give up on the tenure track and land that awesome $50K/year job doing programming at BigCo.
The other 50% that land a tenure track position just go back to Start.
The other 50% that land a tenure track position just go back to Start.
ReplyDelete50%? Isn't that a little high? About 1 in 4 people I went to grad school with ultimately ended up with a tt job. And this is counting the people who moved abroad for a tt job, or took up a job in a teaching college. Mind you, I went to grad school in a top-10 place.
Very Good. Maybe it's just me, but the picture needs many more piles of crumpled up paper. The Scream was a good pick, but if you could find a picture, The Total Perspective Vortex would, in my mind better represent hopelessness.
ReplyDelete