Who's afraid of the big vargulf?

Dear Kids,

A certain professor tells that you guys are afraid of pursuing a PhD after seeing the kind of life I lead. Now, hear this: like this I am, and like this I have always been. I was like this even early into my bachelors, long before I started pursuing a PhD.

Unlike me, most of you guys have access to immediate family, so you guys have other things to do besides pursuing side quests of gaining esoteric knowledge for the gory details, not just the nitty-gritty.

At the end of the day going home is something you guys can look forward to. For me, it is something that I dread -- for you guys have a sense of longing, while for me, it is just agonizing loneliness, and despair.

Better to collapse in the middle of a math problem than to sink deeply into needless thoughts. At least problems, whether mathematical or physical, have a way of delivering their own rewards.

So, pursue whatever it is that you want to pursue. Do whatever it is that you want to do. Don't bother with whether it is easy, or whether it is hard. The fact that you like it should be the only thing affecting your decisions, not even fears about not having the academic smarts.

Remember, unlike me, your struggles will be known to your immediate family, and with intimate knowledge of your blood, sweat and pain they will be a willing audience when with your stories you want to have them regaled.

Never again give off your lame excuses, for they are moot. Don't get scared away by this big bad vargulf.

--Thursday, 12th May, 2011