The Gadflies of Society

I've just finished my tour de grad schools. I traveled from Atlanta GA, through Texas, Arizona, San Diego, LA, San Francisco, and back down to San Diego visiting a total of 10 schools. That said, it was absolutely exhausting. Nick and I lived out of a car from couchsurfers to campsites for nearly two months on tortillas, peanut butter, and bananas. We invented "couples therapeutic boxing" during this time. Who says fighting doesn't solve anything?

I started my trip thinking I wanted to study Political Theory. When I was working in the woods, this is all I thought about and all I wanted to read. Everything just seemed so applicable-- living in a "state of nature" to forming a social contract brought me back to Locke and Rousseau. I didn't really give a crap about what was going on in China, North Korea, immigration, or even the oil spill, because those things didn't seem to affect my daily life whatsoever. Political Theory is applied everywhere-- in our everyday relationships that involve power and authority.

Political Philosophers are the gadflies of society. We're supposed to be those who reject conventional lives while stirring up public officials-- posing more questions than providing answers. When speaking with Political Theorists from various universities, I detected a trend that the job market is extremely tough for Theorists in particular. There are maybe 30 tenure-track positions across the country per year.

After I left the woods (unemployed, mind you), my head slowly began to descend from the clouds. Basic concepts of survival in a capitalist system became part of my reality.

I need money to eat==> I need food to survive. ==> I need my Whole Foods to survive well. ==> I need more money to be able to afford Whole Foods. ==> I need a job to make money. ==> I need a job.

Also, after leaving my small community in the woods, I've become more cognizant of my role as a citizen in the United States. When I came back from Samoa, I didn't feel comfortable jumping into corporate America, much less engaging in politics-- so life in the woods seemed fitting for me. But moving on has shown me how American politics affect my everyday life, and I've realized that hiding from American happenings doesn't mean my hands are clean from all American blunders. I'm learning responsibility.
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Now, I am in Conway, NH with Nick and his parents. After taking the GRE Wednesday, we'll go to a beach house for a week, and then we're flying to Hawaii where we will look for work/shelter, apply to schools, and there we will stay until we've got responses.




A photo taken of Nick after we dined in the parking lot of a Fredricksburg HEB. Milk and good protein are hard to come by when you're on a budget! We've eaten 320 cheesy cracker sandwiches since this day.