Back to School

I've been neglecting this place for the last while, partly because I haven't really gone anywhere or done anything interesting, but also because my writing time has all been going into long academic papers, for both graduate and undergraduate classes. Now that those are wrapping up, I'm back... sort of. Realistically, I'll probably spend more time on the newsletter I'm starting, but more on that later.

So how did I end up as a full time student for the first time in 25 years? You may have noticed that pretty much anyone who's remotely near middle age is having a mid-life existential crisis, because, well... look around. Mine started last year when I realized that I was disillusioned with the kind of work I'd spent nearly my whole career on, but I didn't know what I did want to do. Or even what I could do, after devoting decades to becoming an expert in one field. 

In trying to figure this all out, I found an online career change tool where you input your skills and experience, and it provides a few alternative jobs you're suited for. The list it spat out for me was:

1. Museum Curator
2. Sociologist
3. [my current job]

Helpful! I have absolutely no interest in curating museums, and Sociologist isn't actually a job. I know this, because I have two sociology degrees and couldn't find any work using them, which is how I ended up doing option three in the first place. 

But it did get me thinking... I always loved academia. I wanted to stay there forever, until the intensity of grad school burned me out. Even since then, I read as much for education as pure entertainment, and maybe more schooling would help me figure out what I want to do with the rest of my working life. So I took a long summer sabbatical and went back to being a full time student for a few months.

Spoiler alert: it didn't inspire a new career path, at least not yet. My break ends in a couple weeks and I'll be back at my job again. But the time back in school did rekindle and expand my love of the social sciences, and make me feel a whole lot better about moving through this messy time and place.

I know it sounds crazy, since ignorance is supposed to be bliss and all, but I’ve always been a research junkie. Throughout my life, in the face of anything daunting or scary, it’s information that makes me feel able to face it; learning as much as I can stuff into my brain is how I cope. It's like that James Baldwin quote: Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. But I don’t just learn enough, I learn too much. I get overeducated. 

So in these past few months, I've spent the majority of my time digging deep into history, sociology, political science, public policy, and more. And as always, having the knowledge to see the country clearly has made me feel more able to deal, and to remain hopeful through the dark days.

And that inspired me to share all the stuff I’m learning way too much about, and how I’m getting by. Most days it’s by understanding the politics and societal context of an issue, but others it’s obsessing about the pop culture that allows me to take a break from thinking about it all.  

Hence, the Overeducated newsletter, kicking off in the coming days.

Yes, it's on Substack, and no, that platform hasn't become less problematic. Unfortunately, I'm going to accept being a hypocrite here because it's the one engine with the full publishing abilities for free, and I can't justify spending money to put out this experiment that may never go anywhere. So that's where it is for now and we'll see if it's worth investing in down the line.

And, look, I know that a newsletter is the 2026 version of a pandemic podcast, but I never claimed to be a trendsetter. Just someone who loves to write, whenever and wherever.