What are you going to do when you grow up?

This morning when I was waiting for my bagel to be toasted, the girl in the shop asked if I was heading to class. I told her that I'm doing a PhD, so I do research.

"PhD? What does that mean?"

"Doctor of Philosophy... but I'm doing it in the history of science."

"History of science? That sounds exciting."

"Well, I think it is."

"So what are you going to do when you grow up?"

"I'm hoping to stay in universities - be an academic."

"So you love learning?"

"Yes... and teaching."

"Oh, that's beautiful!"

I know I look young, but I'm sure that she couldn't have been any older. And I'd like to think that I'm already grown up! At least a little bit... But being asked questions like this is one of the downsides of being a PhD student. Usually the question is "What does that qualify you to do?" I find that a bit hard to answer. I think it comes from a rather vocational view of education, which I don't necessarily subscribe to. I'm all in favour of education for its own sake - learning for the sheer joy of learning. It's not just about learning 'facts' (if indeed there are such things). Education teaches people how to reason and think critically.

So what will my PhD qualify me to do? Think. And reason. And rip illogical or unfounded arguments to shreds.

With the teaching experience I'm gaining at the moment, and the publications that will hopefully happen sometime in the near future, I might one day be qualified for a real ('tenure track', if I leave Oz) academic position! And then I can continue researching and publishing in order to keep my position, and supervise more students to perpetuate the cycle!