Academic (or other) backgrounds of AH denizens

[Bramblethorn]

I passed a post-graduate entrance examination at age 18 (and two weeks). At one stage in my career I had 24 letters after my name for belonging to professional organisations.

This is more impressive when one remembers that 'U' and 'J' hadn't been invented back then ;-)

 

[MelissaBaby]

yeah. That, and your obvious intelligence and empathy are why I think you'll be great at it. My first job outta grad school was case management for dually diagnosed (substance use and serious mental illness) folks getting out of jail. I look back, and I'm sometimes embarrassed by how naive I was.

I found my niche with acute psych treatment for seriously mentally ill folk.

I'm glad to have you in the profession.

I'm humbled by your comment. Thank you.

 

[cuppatea]

For me, the popular music hall number rings true: “What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?”

Undergrad in English (Lang and Lit) with a component of Writing.

Tried to wrap head around maths in school but “square peg, round hole” was how I found the subject. Years after finishing, I know that numbers are eloquent language that is precise and beautiful but that still eludes me.

Been writing for more than a few years, nothing on here.

 

[YDB95]

BA in history, MA in international relations, MBA in marketing. Along the way I studied French well enough to become more or less fluent, though it was never my major. I've never worked in anything that centered on creative writing, but I do some writing (marketing material and such) for my current job.

 

[lc69hunter]

I’m not assuming everyone on here is college educated, but talking about majors is a shorthand for your background.

I majored in Biology and then did a Masters in Structural Biology. I did some literature-related classes as an undergraduate, but not many. My professional life has nothing to do with creative writing. I have always read voraciously though.

I was wondering how many people here majored in English, or have worked in a literature-related job.

What about other backgrounds?

No ulterior motive, just curious as ever.

Em

Bachelor's degree in electrical Engineering, Master's degree in Accounting

 

[panaflora]

It seems that no accredited institution offers a PhD in Erotica. Fucking academia.

 

[KeithD]

It seems that no accredited institution offers a PhD in Erotica. Fucking academia.

Bet you can find some PhD dissertations in the subject matter, which would cover an element of getting a PhD. Duke's press published an academic study of erotica, Linda Williams, Hard Core.

 

[panaflora]

Bet you can find some PhD dissertations in the subject matter, which would cover an element of getting a PhD. Duke's press published an academic study of erotica, Linda Williams, Hard Core.

There's also a dissertation on Anais Nin's erotica. Required reading for some of us .

 

[AnnieLit]

BA in math, MS in Statistics. Never took a single writing class. (I went to college in a country where math majors where not required to write any essays, not even for the CORE subjects).

I know one guy here who was an English major - he is (was) teaching English at school, but as of a year ago he didn't publish anything on Lit, he was only helping others with edits.
There is at least one professional writer that posted a few stories here. I don't know what was his college major, but he has a few science fiction books published.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

High school graduate of the Tennessee public schools.

Hello fellow remedial peasant, shall we bow, or cower in fear of all our big brain betters? Either way we shant not look them in the eye, we shouldn't.

 

[KeithD]

Ernest Hemingway was a graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School.

 

[lovecraft68]

Hello fellow remedial peasant, shall we bow, or cower in fear of all our big brain betters? Either way we shant not look them in the eye, we shouldn't.

You could do that or just sit back and roll your eyes at the preening peacocks saying look how smart I am...no seriously, please look. I need your approval and admiration.

Enough about me, let's talk about you...what do you think about me?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Hello fellow remedial peasant, shall we bow, or cower in fear of all our big brain betters? Either way we shant not look them in the eye, we shouldn't.

You realize what the topic name is, right? Maybe it's just me who sees your post as sarcastic, maybe you just intended it as a simple joke, but what you are implying is that people are rubbing their diplomas in your face, which simply isn't true. The whole point of the topic is to state your academic background. If you think that is an intrusion on your privacy, then simply avoid this topic. Yet you are projecting your own insecurities here, instead. No one was shaming anyone here. Personally, I don't think that academic degrees make one a better author, person or anything like that, and I don't see that anyone has said something even remotely like that.

 

[PastMaster]

Registered nurse - with Post Grad qualifications in Advanced life support Pre hospital Trauma life support and First Responder Care - I'm probably not first pick if you're going on university challenge - but if you're having a medical emergency or trauma outside of the hospital - i'm a good guy to have around.

 

[Comshaw]

Registered nurse - with Post Grad qualifications in Advanced life support Pre hospital Trauma life support and First Responder Care - I'm probably not first pick if you're going on university challenge - but if you're having a medical emergency or trauma outside of the hospital - i'm a good guy to have around.

Having been in the ER more than once and having been medivacced from a war zone, I have a soft spot in my heart for nurses, male or female.

A couple of nurse stories. As an aside and a warning to youngin's, never, ever give an old man an opportunity to tell stories!

In 1977 I hit a car head-on while riding my motorcycle. Luckily when I hit it, the impact threw me over the car and I slid down the road. Not so luckily when my bike crumpled the fender during the impact, a jagged piece of it scooped a baseball-sized chunk of meat out of my shin.

I ended up in the hospital for 5 days. The first night was horrible. My leg was bandaged and propped up with my toes exposed. When the nurse came in she would grab my toes to see if they were warm to make sure blood was flowing to them and nothing was going bad. The problem was it hurt like hell. It hurt so bad she was gone before I could say anything. It happened three times that night.

The next morning when the doctor came in the first thing I did was whine, "Doc! Please don't let anyone grab my toes!"

He looked surprised and replied, "I hope not! two of them are broken!"

The night nurse came in that evening a apologized profusely. I told her not to worry about it. Hell, she didn't know, they hadn't told any of the nursing staff about the toes. For the next four days it was a running joke with the nurses about grabbing my toes. It was pretty damned cool they joked about it.


When I got medivacced out of 'nam (no not a war injury, a stupid fucking accident) I ended up in Letterman Army hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco. The orthopedic ward I was on was run by a black E-7 nurse. He was pretty cool having spent his time in 'nam too. Anyway, my girlfriend (now wife) came to visit. The policy was if you had a female visitor the door to your room had to remain open. They had those funky little rubber-tipped arms at the bottom of the doors that pivoted down against the floor to hold the doors open. This E-7 could see we were hot for each other.

He walked by my room the second time she visited, kicked the arm up and said, "Oops! Damn thing won't stay down!"

Every time after that when she came to see me and he was on duty, the door prop was miraculously broken.

Nurses don't get paid enough for what they do, not even close.

So enough old man rambling, back to the subject at hand.

Comshaw

 

[tenyari]

Political Science - which is a very bad degree to get if you're into politics. We all know politicians and big money are screwing us over - but I can see under the hood, and can't stop seeing under there. Even when it comes to my own ideology, I can micro-analyze all the flaws in my perspective that is just seriously darned annoying if I'm trying to actually get into anything...

It's one thing to get a degree in how stupid everyone else is - that's an Econ major if you ever listen them; they seem wedded to the idea that they are the only people in all existence that know anything.

It's a whole worse thing to get a degree in how stupid you yourself are... /sigh.

 

[PastMaster]

It's a whole worse thing to get a degree in how stupid you yourself are... /sigh

You had a head start on me. It took me almost a lifetime of experience to figure out just how dumb i was. Sadly a lot of that life I actually thought different. The realization, when it came, was a rude awakening.

 

[tenyari]

You had a head start on me. It took me almost a lifetime of experience to figure out just how dumb i was. Sadly a lot of that life I actually thought different. The realization, when it came, was a rude awakening.

The worst thing with stuff like this is I'm no super computer. It's on a human time delay. I'm no better than anyone else at avoiding putting my foot in my mouth. I'm just good at seeing it in hindsight in annoying detail...

 

[JaxRhapsody]

You realize what the topic name is, right? Maybe it's just me who sees your post as sarcastic, maybe you just intended it as a simple joke, but what you are implying is that people are rubbing their diplomas in your face, which simply isn't true. The whole point of the topic is to state your academic background. If you think that is an intrusion on your privacy, then simply avoid this topic. Yet you are projecting your own insecurities here, instead. No one was shaming anyone here. Personally, I don't think that academic degrees make one a better author, person or anything like that, and I don't see that anyone has said something even remotely like that.

You sure you didn't mean to quote Lovecrafts quote of my quote? I betcha five shillings, you did, and that's a weeks pay, for this lowly peasant, mi'lord.

 

[Axill]

I’m not assuming everyone on here is college educated, but talking about majors is a shorthand for your background.

I majored in Biology and then did a Masters in Structural Biology. I did some literature-related classes as an undergraduate, but not many. My professional life has nothing to do with creative writing. I have always read voraciously though.

I was wondering how many people here majored in English, or have worked in a literature-related job.

What about other backgrounds?

No ulterior motive, just curious as ever.

Em

I majored in English with an emphasis in creative writing. College was fun. I read stories all day.

 

[Polranny]

For what its worth: as a mature student ...Sociology and Anthropology of Travel and Tourism
Never really got me anywhere but it was great fun

 

[lanceGibs]

I have a master's degree in five subjects. Other than English,I speak five languages . Otherwise I am wicked in six languages.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

You sure you didn't mean to quote Lovecrafts quote of my quote? I betcha five shillings, you did, and that's a weeks pay, for this lowly peasant, mi'lord.

His remark deserved the same response, but yours was the first one. I didn't want to disrespect you by ignoring yours, and replying to his remark instead.
As you can see, we - highborn Lords and Ladies aren't complete pricks, after all.

 

[Bbl87]

B.A. in Psychology

M.A. in Counseling

Didn't end up in either field.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

His remark deserved the same response, but yours was the first one. I didn't want to disrespect you by ignoring yours, and replying to his remark instead.
As you can see, we - highborn Lords and Ladies aren't complete pricks, after all.

Then we'll split the difference. Two shilling and one copper piece.