Jason Graduate Work in German Studies and Cinema Studies Financial Services

Abstract

The expectations, when I was growing up, weren’t necessarily to go to grad school—but to go to a good school, more generally. My parents were probably a bit troubled by the fact that I wasn’t very serious about school during my first few years in college. I was really focused when it came to the stuff that I liked, but I totally blew off the stuff that I didn’t like. In my sophomore year I decided I was going to be a history major—my parents’ first question was like, “What are you going to do with that?” I initially thought, okay, yeah, law school, something like that. But then I got serious about it in my junior year. I really got into the stuff I was studying, and started thinking about grad school and about going into academia. I think my parents were open to it. They probably assumed I would go on in something, since my sister went to law school, but they certainly didn’t put pressure on me. But when I got my master’s degree paid for, and then I got into PhD programs at really prestigious schools, they were like, “We don’t care what you’re doing, it’s just great; keep it up!”

The only thing I would say I regret—if anything—is that I wish I could have figured this out a few years faster. I kind of wish I could have come to this realization and made the big move maybe four years before I actually did.