Sunday, June 2, 2013

Grad School Part Two: A Combination of Things

So what made me want to go to grad school anyways. I think in the end it wasn't really any one thing, but a combination of things. First is the fact that I like to travel. Studying International Relations isn't really the same thing as traveling, though it might involve some, but it is related. My interest in different countries and cultures definitely ties in to the study of International Relations, which is after all just how countries relate to one another. Second, I've enjoyed being a teacher for these past five years. I haven't always wanted to be an English teacher, but being able to teach about something more related to what I'm interested in seems great. This would take more than a masters degree but I'm planning to go on for a PhD at some point after finishing my masters.

This isn't the most common path when it comes to International Relations of Political Science, I believe a majority of those getting PhDs don't get masters first, but since my undergraduate grades were not very good I don't think I'd get into a top PhD program right now. And with academia as tough as it is today, I'm not sure it's worth going for a PhD if you're not in a top program, since the graduates from the top programs get so many of the academic jobs.

Third, I am interested in politics but don't really want to work for congress or the government like a lot of people I know in DC do. I think getting a masters or possibly a PhD would open up a lot of jobs that are connected to politics but with a more international bent and not inside the government. Finally, even after living in China for a while I'm still always interested in all the strange and unusual things that go on around here. Living here has shown me a lot, but I want to be able to study China in a more academic setting.

Well that's mostly why I want to go to grad school. I think it will combine what I've been doing for the past five years with my interest in different countries and politics. Next time I'm going to talk about all that was involved in taking the GRE.

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