No, I'm Not Dead From E. Coli Poisoning

I suppose I could've picked a better time to post my spinach-dip recipe, eh?

Sad as I was to hear about the number of people who grew sick from the latest bout of E. coli, this most recent outbreak is actually the result of fresh bagged spinach, not the frozen kind, so those of you who made yourself a batch over the weekend can thank your lucky stars Frema isn't a staunch advocate of fresh produce.

Anyway, I've dragged out the whole Q-and-A thing for so long that by now most of you could care less about my favorite family vacation or the contents of my junk drawer, but there are still nine questions to go, so buck up and shut your piehole, or something.

Art Nerd Lauren wonders:

Which of your electives in college was your favorite?

I took several college-level courses in high school and as a result started my freshman year with fifteen credits under my belt. Having those credits would've allowed me to double major and still graduate in four years, but I couldn't find another subject that held my attention the way creative writing did. Instead, I dabbled in other disciplines like social work, religion, and political science. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think I'm most proud of myself for enrolling in Political Theory. Growing up, politics wasn't commonly addressed at the dinner table, so it felt good to get a better handle on a topic that was ultimately foreign to me. We also read some wondeful books, including Brave New World, The Jungle, and Atlas Shrugged.

(The latter is what actually sparked my interest in the first place, as I discovered Ayn Rand through a writing contest at the age of sixteen and fell in love with the characters in her books. Rand's name is rarely mentioned in academic circles, so it impressed me that my professor thought enough about her controversial ideology to touch on her works in his class.)

(I'm such a freak. Does anyone else even know who this woman is?)

What was your favorite teacher like?

I had several favorites, and their common character traits included a genuine love for their disciplines and a willingness to play Devil's Advocate; to ask questions that make the average Joe uncomfortable in a quest to see life through a broader worldview. Dismissing class ten minutes early was just a bonus.

How much of a different world is academic administration type work than regular corporate America?

Before I answer this, it's important to note the many similarities attributable to a traditional office environment. Pointless meetings. Colleagues who don't take you seriously. Two-hour road trips for five-minute appointments. Forced "resignations." Middle management, how we toil for thee!

For me, the most significant difference lies in the level of passion for my work. Education has made a tremendous impact on my quality of life, and through my job at Saint Joe, I was happy to fight for the cause. I loved assisting with admissions events and mingling with prospective students. I enjoyed sharing stories about being the first person in my family to go to college with parents desperate to provide strong career opportunities for their kids. I worked a lot of nights and weekends, and the pay was just mediocre, but I couldn't have asked for a better emotional payoff.

On the flip side, I worked a lot of nights and weekends, and the pay was just mediocre, so when my current boss approached me about a job with his laboratory last spring, I jumped at the chance to advance my career into uncharted territory. So far, I've published with a national magazine (twice!), guided the company through a major branding overhaul, and tried my hand at graphic design. The salary and benefits package is more than generous, boasting of paid sick days, full vestment of employer matches to my 401(k) upon deposit, and monthly contributions to my health savings account.

The downside? It's PEE, people. I write stories about therapeutic drug monitoring and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry instruments and how to detect adulteration in urine samples. The emotional payoff is much less tangible, but somebody's gotta put those addicts in their place, right?

I hope to continue with the caring and the sharing tomorrow; in the meantime, can you believe I heard the following financial incentive publicized on the radio the other day?

"Free cooch cream with every costume!"

Comments

[Lena]

Loved The Jungle. And am totally stealing this meme! ;)

[PaintingChef]

You are NOT a freak. Ayn Rand is AMAZING.

[Silly Hily]

Keep the answers coming. I love reading them.

[Liz]

I know who Ayn Rand is. And I think I entered the same contest (which I didn't win). ;)

[takin chances]

Cooch cream? Were they serious?

Did you miss hear it and they meant "pooch" cream? Like for your dog?

[Frema]

Takin Chances: No misunderstanding. The commercial was for a "gift" shop in town.

[Art Nerd Lauren]

Could I have worded that last question more awkwardly?!

Cooch cream, Frema, you slay me!

[Will Shannon]

Of course I know of Ayn Rand. As a libertarian, she is one of the pantheon of thinkers that changed the way I look at things.

While her legacy is anything but sacrosanct, her ideas at the time they were conceived were revolutionary.

I think that academics don't take her seriously because she threatens a lot of the philosophical assumptions that the modern academy takes for granted.

Of her "fictional" works, I think Atlas Shrugged is the best. Of the others, I like The Virtue of Selfishness and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.

I also, if you have not already done so, recommend Leonard Peikoff's Introduction to Objectivist Epistomology and (as a counterpoint) Christopher Schiabarra's Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical.

[Number Twelve]

Great entry Frema! And you have CLEARLY taken your education much more seriously than I... I don't think I earned 15 credits after two semesters (I blame Smoochie).