Why I hated Grad School

I just had an epiphany about why I was so miserable while I was in Graduate School. I went The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to get a Master of Arts degree in Speech Communication right out of college. During the first year of the two-year program, I felt burned out and almost dropped out. I had always thought that burned out feeling was because I had been in school practically my entire life, but now I think I discovered the real reason.

I didn't have any friends in Grad School.

I am a very social person. I love to talk and spend time with others, and I genuinely like almost everybody. I have lots and lots of friends. However, while I was at Chapel Hill, there was nobody with whom I would just "hang out" and do stuff. I've always had many friends, but perhaps more importantly, I've always had a best friend (or two). In High School, it was Jay and Kim. In college, I had K-Bob and O-Steph. I met Rod at orientation at Law School, and I can't tell you how many hours we spent playing Super Nintendo or eating queso at Chili's. When I lived in Houston, I spent time with the gang from my Singles Sunday School class. Now, I have my friends at the Theatre.

In Grad School, I had squat. There were 29 or 30 other students in our program, and I got along with all of them, even if I was one of only two Conservatives (and the other one never got into political discussions), but I wouldn't say any of them were friends. The only times I really enjoyed Grad School were when I was teaching as a Teaching Assistant and when I performed in a play. During that production, I did hang out a few times with the other cast members, but as soon as the show was over, that interaction came to an end.

Who knows, if I had just made a good friend or two at UNC, I might have wound up a college professor instead of a lawyer.